If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.
Most students would not have considered the old Wireless 101 broken, but it was very much in need of a security upgrade. Unfortunately, DoIT’s remedy, CUWireless, doesn’t seem to be a good fix for most students thus far.
“Before, with 101 operating on an unencrypted network, if someone who wasn’t a student or staff or faculty wanted to use it, they could. It was not very secure. CUWireless brings us up to the industry standard,” Mark Smedinghoff, student technology support manager for DoIT, said. “CUWireless is a secure encryption between your computer and the gateway to the Internet, nobody will be able to pick up what’s going on. Faculty and staff in admissions and the registrar are using the wireless. We didn’t want the opportunity for important data to be stolen to exist.”
DoIT knew that there would be problems implementing the new system. “We actually received fewer calls on how to configure CUWireless than we anticipated,” Bryan McLaughlin, security officer for Creighton, said.
Some of the problems students are having are specific to their individual computers, especially older computers running Windows XP and new Macs. Other problems stem from the amount of new wireless devices, which has doubled since last year, and that students are setting up personal access points that are interfering with Creighton’s wireless signal. “We are encouraging anyone who has plugged in a personal wireless access point to please shut it off as it is creating interference with the Creighton wireless network and violates Creighton’s ‘Fair, Responsible and Acceptable Use Policy,'” DoIT said in an e-mail.
Another issue is that students and faculty expect the new Wi-Fi to work where the old Wi-Fi didn’t. With the exception of most of the residence halls, no new access points have been added on campus. However, over fall break DoIT will be adding many new access points throughout campus to improve coverage.
Kenefick, Heider and McGloin don’t currently have Wi-Fi, but Smedinghoff said that is scheduled to change around Christmas break. Davis has Wi-Fi, but the system is shaky and needs an upgrade, which will hopefully happen sometime this year. Unlike the other residence halls, students living in these halls can still use Ethernet at least through the rest of the fall semester.
According to Smedinghoff, the reason for removing the old Ethernet modems from the halls that are set up with Wi-Fi is that Creighton’s contract with Cox ends in January. “We thought it would be more cost effective to offer the service ourselves rather than outsourcing it. The Ethernet still works but the new wireless is actually faster than with the wires.”
A more secure wireless network sounds good in theory, but many students are still having problems. Jane Thomas, Arts & Sciences sophomore has had more problems than most. “My internet stopped working at DoIT for 45 minutes. They had to set up my own network on CUWireless and I still had to go back twice. They had no idea what was wrong.” Rather than being forced to switch to the wireless system, Thomas would prefer the option to use Ethernet in her room in Swanson Hall. While most students’ situations are better than Thomas’, many are still having some problems.
As a solution to all the problems, DoIT will be setting up a wireless network to replace CUWireless within the next few days. This network, like 101, will be unencrypted and therefore much easier to connect to for students. This is a temporary solution as DoIT works to “re-engineer a secure wireless network.”
As DoIT continues to work to improve CUWireless, they encourage students to report any problems. “We need to know where people are experiencing lack of wireless coverage. Please help us by contacting the Service Desk and reporting where connectivity issues exist. As we get feedback, we can take action to fix those areas where coverage is lacking.”