Shawnee State University Announces Wireless Access

Wireless connectivity is expanding across campus through designated buildings and green space across campus. As the service expands across the campus, announcements will be made to the campus community identifying the areas of availability. Once fully implemented, the wireless network access service will be available to all members of the campus community, including students, employees and guests for both University owned devices and personally owned devices.

Wireless access to the Shawnee State University network imposes certain responsibilities and obligations that must be adhered to in order to maintain a computing environment which best serves the needs and protects the rights of students, faculty and staff. Consistent with wired connectivity, these Conditions guide the deployment and usage of wireless networking on the SSU campus to ensure reliable, compatible and secure operation. Participants must abide by the supporting documents of the Conditions for Use of Campus Computing Resources listed in Section 5.0 of Policy 5.30 including the specific Conditions for wireless connectivity outlined below.

What is Wireless Access?

The University currently uses the IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g wireless network standards to allow members of the University community to connect to the Internet and computing resources in designated buildings and open areas on campus. With wireless access, users can connect their wireless network-equipped laptop or personal digital assistant (PDA) to the network at speeds of up to 54 Mbps.

Current Standards

UIS has evaluated and tested Cisco technology and finds it to meet all current industry standards as well as to perform in a secure, reliable and consistent manner.

Only the IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b and/or 802.11g standards for wireless local area networks (WLAN) is currently supported. A WLAN with these specifications will operate in the unlicensed 2.4GHz - 5GHz range and conform to the IEEE 802.11 Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) specification. All access points will be the Cisco Aironet 350 or 1100/1200 series or newer. No other vendor or model of access points will be supported on the SSU network.

Only the TCP/IP protocol will be supported on the SSU WLAN.

Where is Wireless Access Available on Campus?

Multiple buildings, common areas, and housing units on the University campus have wireless access points installed, and plans for expansion to all buildings and open spaces are work in process.   To view a list of current locations click here.

A site survey must be completed by UIS prior to design and installation of any wireless access device to ensure radio-frequency integrity, optimum location for coverage and connection to power and the wired data network, as well as to identify possible interference problems.

How to access the Wireless Network on Campus?

SSU utilizes CISCO Clean Access technology to assist users in preparing their personally owned laptops and PDAs to meet the prerequisites of the campus network.  For specific instructions on using Clean Access, click here.