Smith College TechNotes blog

Dear [[House]] Students,

ITS is happy to announce that we have installed a wireless hotspot in the common area of your house.

While we work to add wireless coverage to more of the campus, please be aware that:

Wireless is convenient!
While it is exciting to have wireless access, remember that wireless internet is a supplement to the ethernet connection in your room. It is also slower by nature. So, when both connections are available to you, choose wired over wireless.

Wireless is a shared resource with relatively low bandwidth. Imagine that the wireless router is a sprinkler, and each computer connecting to the router is a bucket — so when one computer requests a lot of bandwidth (imagine they’re using a larger bucket) from the router, everyone else’s available bandwidth can decline. So, for better performance, please use an ethernet connection to download large files, run Windows Updates, watch streaming video, use VoIP, and so forth.

Wireless is insecure. All wireless networks are less secure than wired connections, The wireless in the residence houses is not encrypted, so please do not use wireless for any services that require you to enter sensitive personal information (for example, your Banner PIN, credit card number, or online banking information).

Wireless in the houses is monitored by CCA. When you use the wireless in a residence house, instead of signing in through Blue Socket (like all other access points on campus, in the library, campus center, etc), you will sign into Cisco Clean Access. So, if you need a Windows Update or new Virus Definition, run your updates on a wired connection (it will be faster) before you try connecting to the wireless in your house. For more information on accessing wireless from a residence house, read this page on TARA: Accessing the Smith Wireless Network from a Smith Residence House

More Questions? Email 4its@smith.edu or call the User Support Center at x4487.