Do any of the dorms on campus have Ethernet connections, or is it all wireless? If everything is WiFi, how fast is it?
I’m planning on taking my desktop PC, but I’m not sure if I need to buy a wireless adapter or not.
Thanks!
Almost every dorm room has a gigabit ethernet connection. There is only one per room, so you might want to take a small gigabit switch and a few long cables (25-30 feet) so you have one for you and you roommate(s). Sometimes you have to snake the cable all of the way around the room. Wireless is everywhere but not always as fast. Also make sure to take a power strip. Sometimes the wireless goes out. You won’t need a printer, they are all over.
There are PC’s and Macs all over campus including within most dorms, so a computer is never that far away. A laptop is much handier though because not all study spaces have computers nearby (but they have wireless). The 13" Macbook pro seems to be the most popular laptop on campus. You typically get 20-50 Mb/sec on wireless, in some more lightly used areas it is 100Mb/sec+ . You can use the VPN to attached to shared computer resources and virtual machines so you don’t have to buy software like creative suite and ArcGIS. The computer showcase, located in the union, has super low cost student editions of popular software.
As an aside, I’d make sure your cell phone has wifi calling as cell signal can be iffy underground and within some older buildings. The U has made a real effort to install cell repeaters but it is not perfect.