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Residential computing: Wireless
Wireless in the residence halls

As of fall 2005, all of the MIT residence halls have complete 802.11b/g wireless coverage in addition to the wired ethernet network. There are now two ways to connect your computer to the network and internet at MIT. While the traditional wired network is useful for some desktop computers and server setups, Residential Computing at MIT asks that dorm residents with laptops try connecting to the wireless network for everyday computer use.

Personal access points

With the completion of the wireless project in the residence halls, all residence halls should have ubiquitous wireless coverage and IS&T strong recommends not running personal or private access points. As discussed in the "interference" section below, 802.11b/g wireless traffic is sent on a relatively small range of radio frequencies. Adding additional APs that are not connected, configured and optimized to integrate with the MIT wireless installation in the residence halls can and will interfere with the current setup. This causes signal degradation, loss of throughput and connectivity issues for those residents nearby.

It is true that the MIT wireless networks are unsecured, meaning that your traffic is visible to anyone within radio range of your computer. This is true of any open wireless network, Panera, Starbucks, airports, and many others. This can and should leave you uncomfortable about sending private data over the wireless network. You should take extra care when using credit cards, social security numbers, passwords and other sensitive information. Computer security, whether it be on the wired network or on the wireless network shouldn't be taken lightly and is best when used in layers. Some tips to remember: Please see the Network Security web pages, http://web.mit.edu/ist/topics/security, for more information and security advice.
As stated above, the MIT wireless network is open and insecure. Not anyone can connect to the network and get online, but that doesn't stop them from reading all of the data being sent through the air. There is no way to enable a WEP or WPA connection to the MIT wireless network. While adding a non-MIT or private AP will allow your connection to be secured by WEP or WPA (if setup correctly,) this does not add much additional security at all. In fact, the amount of security WEP provides is near zero. There are programs that can crack a WEP key in a matter of minutes. While WPA is slightly more secure, it also can be hacked quite easily.

In addition to the fact that WEP and WPA keys are vulnerable, once the network traffic passes the AP it is no longer encrypted. There are many dorms on campus that still use hubbed networks where traffic is sent to all computers connected, even if it's just meant for one computer. Every WEP/WPA encrypted packet sent between your computer and the wireless AP is then broadcast unencrypted to all other computers on your floor and the surrounding floors. The switched networks do not suffer as badly from this type of behavior, but all traffic is still sent through the network and internet unencrypted after it leaves the AP.

Installing a private AP does not offer a significant rise in security and Residential Networking will not accept this as a valid reason for installing an access point in your room. Please see the above point and the Network Security web pages, http://web.mit.edu/ist/topics/security, for tips on keeping your connection secure. The MIT wireless network was installed in a large number of buildings in a very short amount of time. There are a total of over 2,800 APs around campus. Because of the scale of this project there are bound to be areas on campus that are in need of fine tuning, AP adjustment and additional hardware. These areas are not meant to have poor coverage and IS&T will work to resolve any problems. If you are in an area with poor or no wireless coverage, please read the troubleshooting tips below and fill out a request with the RCCs at http://rcc.mit.edu.

IS&T cannot do a site survey and determine a solution if there are private access points. If there are non-MIT APs, the RCCs will not recommend a site visit from the wireless installs team. These APs interfere with the current network and make it impossible to get a real picture of coverage and usage that is necessary in identifying problems and determining resolutions.
Troubleshooting my wireless connection

Below are some basic steps to troubleshooting your connection on the wireless network. If these steps do not prove useful, please contact the RCCs at http://rcc.mit.edu.

Each wireless card and computer manufacturer has a different way of disabling the radio or wireless card antenna. If you are receiving very low or no signal strength from the MIT wireless networks please be sure that your radio is on.

In MAC OS X, you can click the airport icon in your system tray and select "Turn Airport On."
With Windows, each computer and card is different. Try: Many computers are configured to only connect to "preferred" wireless networks. If your computer is not finding the "MIT" network you may have to type in the network name manually. There are a large number of different wireless cards and drivers available today. As with any technology, it is recommended to keep up to date with patches and firmware updates. These updates can decrease the risk of security exposure, fix bugs, add additional features or make the product interact with other software or hardware better. If you are having connectivity problems between your wireless card and the MIT wireless network, please try downloading and installing the latest updates from the card manufacturer.

It is also possible that the drivers have not been installed, have been installed incorrectly or have become corrupted. Reinstalling the manufacturer's driver can often resolve non-connectivity issues. You can check your network connections (under control panel in Windows and system preferrences in OS X) to be sure that a wireless card and drivers have been installed. Computer wireless networks communicate through radio waves in the 2.4Ghz range. Many home electronics also use this frequency range for wireless communications including cordless phones, wireless access points, microphones, headphones, laptop computers and others. The large number of household devices that operate in this range makes these radio frequency bands very crowded often resulting in interference.

In addition to active interference caused by other radio waves, wireless network signals can be disrupted by physical obstacles including some types of windows, building materials, furniture and appliances. Often refrigerators placed in the line of sight or near a wireless device can cause serious degradation of signal.
If you are noticing problems connecting to the wireless network, please keep these questions in mind: Another type of interference happens when there are a large number of people using the same access point. These computers are all sharing the same limited medium to communicate. As with any other shared resource on campus, the wired network, computer labs, Athena dialup servers, it is important to use the wireless network responsibly. As it is a shared medium, the amount of network traffic that passes through it can greatly affect its performance for you and those around you. Here are some steps to take to help keep a healthy and useful wireless network: Often, wireless access points can be affected by the environment around them. Heat and over use can cause them to operate incorrectly or incompletely. This type of outage is different from an interference or signal coverage issue and has a different procedure for resolution. It is important to indicate how long you've been noticing problems and how the current behavior differs from the expected behavior.