Get Connected to MITnet

What is MITnet?

MITnet is MIT's campus network. Members of the MIT community can access the network via high-speed Ethernet, wireless, ISP (Internet Service Provider), or dial-up connection. Once connected, MITnet provides access to a diverse set of computing resources at MIT. The ways you use MITnet will depend on your needs. For example, you might use MITnet to:

• Browse the World Wide Web
• Send and receive email
• Send and receive instant messages
• Download a wide variety of software available to the MIT community
• Print
• Backup and restore data
• Exchange files with colleagues and friends
• Publish web pages
• Work in Web and network-based applications

What do I Need to Get Started?

Every user of MITnet must have a unique username and password to identify themselves. Kerberos is an industry-standard protocol (developed at MIT) which provides a secure method to authenticate users on MITnet. Your MIT Kerberos username and password is also known as your Athena, MIT e-mail, or MITnet account.

• If you are not yet set up with a Kerberos username and password, begin at the Get Ready section of this guide.


• If you have a Kerberos username and password, and have connected a computer to a network before, you can go directly to the section of this guide that will help you Get Connected with your operating system.

		Get Ready