Law School Wireless System Configuration and Settings
Design/Login Method: Our new Cisco wireless system is designed similar to those available in a large hotel. We use login and password authentication with your credentials being your Novell code and password, the same one you use in our computer labs and library PCs. Why not your LawNet/PirateNet login? Reset abilities and local control. It is much faster for us to reset passwords and adjust accounts locally rather than submitting tickets to Campus…
Landing Page: Once you successfully authenticate to our wireless system, your browser will bring you to a pre-determined landing page. This page (for now our homepage) will display current information, news and events relevant specifically to the law school community. Why not your browser's homepage? This is so that we can target important information directly to you, such as events, student services info, career info and the like, and not have it get lost in a blizzard of broadcast emails...
Password Resets/Grace Logins: For new accounts and password resets, all users are required to change their password from the standard pattern within 6 logins attempts. To do so you MUST login at a local station in the computer lab or library and follow the login/change password instructions on screen. Your new password will last for 1 year.
Login Time/Idle Time: Once you login to our wireless network, the system should “remember” you for 12 hours. If your laptop is idle (no network traffic) for more than 3 hours the system will assume you have left the wireless area and require you to login again. This, however, has been somewhat problematic as closing some laptops will cause the wireless card to shutoff and the controllers to think you are no longer in range. Somehow this resets the 12 hr clock and forces a re-login. Cisco is aware of this issue and working on a fix…
Maximum Speed: Currently each laptop’s wireless speed on our network is capped at 2mb/s. This is to ensure that each access point can support the maximum number of devices (24 per radio, 2 radios per point A and G), with sufficient headroom. As we monitor traffic patterns and throughput we will try to raise the speed and see if performance improves. To test your speed go to www.speakeasy.net/speedtest and click on New York to see what you are receiving. If you are receiving less than 2mb it could indicate a driver, wireless card, browser or OS issue.
Mobility: While Cisco claims that moving from access point to access point is supposed to work seamlessly and your connection will not be slowed or dropped, anyone with a cell phone knows that is not always true. Wireless cards can become sticky to APs, and won’t let go as long as it is in listening range. This is why it is important on some laptops to switch off and on your wireless card when you move locations in order to associate with the closest (and loudest) AP...
Known issues:
1. MACs – Some Macs no matter what model or OS will not display our login page in Safari. So far Cisco cannot tell us why, but we suspect a security or OS setting. Sometimes installing Firefox will allow the page to open but not in all cases. We are currently trying Camino and Opera to see what effect that will have.
2. Wireless Cards dropping out with signal strength excellent or good (on, then off, then on again… or limited connectivity error) - So far updating your wireless card driver usually cures this problem, but not in all cases. Common cards such as the Intel 3945 and Broadcom have 2009 drivers which understand the Cisco 6.0 system, but some older cards do not. We are currently researching alternative connectivity methods for older or obscure wireless cards that do not have Cisco compatible wireless network software...