<p>Are the dorms in the forseeable future (2 years)? Because my son is planning to buy a good wireless router and help himself and his friends who live nearby. They're planning to chip in.....granted it's range is small but still it is more comfortable lying in your room and connected wirelessly than being stuck in one place.</p>
<p>I haven't been all that happy with the wireless. It is quite spotty in most of the academic buildings, with the signal varying widely. I don't get any signal at all in Clothier or the upper floors of Tarble. It is too bad.</p>
<p>That said, I use an Apple powerbook, and they are notorious for their bad wireless reception.</p>
<p>during our computer orientation, the ITS guys mentioned that they would install wireless in the dorms in the near future... don't quote me, but I'm pretty sure they said "within the next 2 years" - i.e. before the 2008-09 school year.</p>
<p>I've had no problems - granted, I've only tried it in McCabe and Kohlberg, but... :P</p>
<p>I type notes during some of my classes, and I notice that the signal shifts widely from receiving full signal to almost none. I think they might do this on purpose, to discourage internet access during class, but I'm not sure.</p>
I think they might do this on purpose, to discourage internet access during class, but I'm not sure.
</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure this isn't the case. You might be picking up two APs on the same channel or something similar. Depending on where the classroom is, it might be worth dropping an email to ITS.</p>
<p>The only reason I have this suspicion is that I've never experienced the problem in any non-classrooom location (Sci Center, Kohlberg, McCabe, Parrish, etc.) and I encounter it <em>regularly</em> in classrooms in Kohlberg and Trotter.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that the wireless covereage was orignally set up in those public areas a couple of years ago and the classroom stuff is new. Open space like the coffee bars work best with wireless, but the classrooms are going to have some losses since the signal has to go through various walls. They'll probably need to send someone out to test the signal strength in the classrooms and adjust the APs accordingly.</p>
<p>But it is unlikey that the signal is deliberately being jammed. Otherwise it'd interfere with the profs using it! I'm guessing that they checked the signal strength in the faculty offices nearby (if any are near the room you are having problems in) but they might not have checked the classrooms.</p>
<p>just got an official e-mail sent to all students:</p>
<p>"What's left to do over the next 1-2 years is [irrelevant buildings] and the residence halls. We'll also look at other outdoor spaces that should have coverage."</p>
<p>ITS would like to announce the availability of expanded wireless coverage on campus. The College completed the 2nd year of a 3-4 year project to install wirless networking throughout campus. ITS added 60 new wireless access points primarily in buildings on the North side of campus. Almost all academic and administrative buildings are now covered. The complete list of wireless buildings is:</p>
<p>Ashton House (active within the next week)
nBeardsley
Ben West
Clothier (and SCCS)
Cornell Science Library
Cunningham
Hicks
Kohlberg
Lang Music
Lang Center (SEPTA station)
Lang PAC
Martin
McCabe Library
Papazian
Parrish (including student residences)
Pearson
Robinson
Science Center
Services
Sharples Dining Center (active within the next week)
Sproul
Trotter
Worth Health</p>
<p>A number of outdoor spaces are also covered by the current wireless network:</p>
<p>nGarden between Hicks, Pearson, Trotter
Ruins Garden between Kohlberg and Parrish
Parrish Front Lawn (Parrish Beach)
Back of Kohlberg (facing the Science Center)</p>
<p>Wireless signal should also be available in the immediate outdoor vacinity of most of the buildings on the list above. What's left to do over the next 1-2 years is Bond & Lodges, 502 Fieldhouse Lane, Whittier 3/5, Zornow tennis facility, Lamb Miller and the residence halls. We'll also look at other outdoor spaces that should have coverage.</p>
<h2>The Cisco Airespace access points support the 802.11b/g protocols. Private access points should not be used in buildings with College-supplied wireless service. College access points have been installed and configured in a way to maximize coverage and minimize interference with each other. Other access points can cause interference with the College system. </h2>
<p>Mark J. Dumic
Assoc. Director Networking and Telecommunications</p>