Wireless in the dorms

<p>Moved D in today to Hinton James. Wireless didn't appear to work. Does wireless not work in the dorms?</p>

<p>Being a parent, I’m not really the best person to answer this question. But my understanding is that dorm rooms are wired, and dorm common areas are (mostly) wireless.</p>

<p>Unless the room is close to the floor lounge,which is wireless, you won’t have wireless.</p>

<p>All of the rooms have ethernet access, and some of the rooms have wireless access if they are close to a study lounge. You also need to get your computer configured by someone on ResNet if you don’t have a CCI laptop. </p>

<p>You do have wireless in all class rooms and academic buildings though.</p>

<p>Go to the student store and get an ethernet cable, they are really cheap. Then follow the resnet.unc.edu directions for setting up your network.</p>

<p>Yes, except the longest they sold in the student store was 15 feet…at least that we saw. We bought this but it wasn’t really long enough. It would only reach to the edge of her bed and wouldn’t reach to her desk at all as the ethernet port was by her roommate’s bed. So we’ll have to get a longer one.</p>

<p>Do you know of anyone who has hooked their own wireless router up to the ethernet so that they have their own wireless network in their room? Any problems with doing this?</p>

<p>And isn’t it a chicken-egg thing to go to a website to get instructions on how to set your computer up for the network.</p>

<p>Get an Apple Airport Express ($100), it would turn your room into wireless. What you kid will need to remember is to put a security on it (PW) or everyone else will tap into it. I carry it with me whenever I travel. I put a room’s ethernet in the Express, plug it in, and my room is wireless. Many college students use it in their rooms, so they don’t have to sit at their desk to get internet connection, and they could also use the wifi for iphone, printers, speakers.</p>

<p>oldfort - Is that device only for Apple computers?</p>

<p>No, it can be used for all computers. We used it with Dell before. I am living in a foreign country now (third world actually). I am using Airport Express (with Netgear AV) to extend wireless in my home, and the wireless signal coming from the Express is better than the local internet provider’s router.</p>

<p>Thanks. I’ll look into it.</p>

<p>So D went to the student store and they sell wireless routers/devices but they all say “prohibited for use on campus”. So, experienced students, does anyone else out there have a wireless router set up in their dorm room?</p>

<p>If not, do you have like a 30 ft. long cable stretched around the outskirts of the room? Do you have it set up so that you can only use your laptop from your desk? or only from your bed? Or do you never use your laptop in your room?</p>

<p>The apple product (though nice) is way, way overpriced for this task. Any cheap wireless router from newegg or something will do it. They have them for $20 or so – for just inside your room, you wouldn’t need anything more than that.</p>

<p>But I think (not sure) that running your own wireless network on campus is against the rules, so there goes that plan.</p>

<p>From my experience, all the rooms I’ve stayed in (and I’ve lived in most of the south campus dorms) have ethernet ports on opposite sides. Are you sure you didn’t see another?</p>

<p>If you choose to get your own wireless router, please make sure you contact your dorm’s resnet person to help you configure it so you don’t crash the entire dorm’s wireless infrastructure.</p>

<p>My son is on the 2nd floor at Morrison and he has wireless, but I guess it is because he is close to the lounge - not sure.</p>

<p>You don’t need Resnet to get wired internet access in your dorms. The instructions are online, and its amazingly simple.
Also, Target has huge ethernet cables.</p>

<p>I have internet via ethernet (student stores sells duct tape and 25-foot cords btw), and even though I followed the online instructions and registered, I can’t get the wifi to work anywhere. everyone in biology will be reading the outline online but I can’t get it to connect to the internet. I have a mac, but I followed those instructions… any advice?</p>

<p>Camico, try and contact one of the Resnet people in your dorm or go to ITS locations?</p>

<p>As far as the cord goes, I use the ethernet cord that came with my UNC laptop, and it stretches a lot farther than I would need it to. I have it hidden along the wall behind our fridge, but then it just goes across the floor. No one has tripped over it or anything. The only issue is when I wanna watch Hulu on my bed, but that’s because the cord for my battery won’t reach that far. The ethernet is totally fine.</p>

<p>What about using an extension cord, so the battery reaches far enough?</p>