Wireless Frequently Asked Questions

• Where is wireless access available?
• When will the whole campus be wireless?
• What do I need to connect?
• How do I get connected?
• Why do I get a warning and is it safe to connect?
• What next?

Q: Where is wireless access available?

A: Wireless access is currently available in the following locations: Building 100, Building 300, Building 400, Building 500, Building 700, Building 800, Building 900, Building 1400, Building 1500, Building 1700, Building 1800B, and the Board Room (room 626).

Q: When will the whole campus be wireless?

A. As the campus completes the Measure G bond program, wireless access will be enabled in most locations. Wireless access is also being planned for the new Vacaville Center.

As resources permit, we may be able to make wireless access available in other parts of the campus prior to Measure G work.  Any new locations will be announced as they come online.

Q: What do I need to connect?

A: You need to have a laptop or other device such as a PDA (Palm Pilot or Pocket PC) with wireless capability.  We support 802.11b and 802.11g.  These are commonly found in most current laptops and many PDA's.   Our wireless network is not for cell phones.

Q: How do I get connected?

A: First, you must make sure that the wireless capabilities of your computer are enabled. Every computer is different but typically there is a network control panel item that includes wireless configuration.  Many computers also provide keyboard shortcuts.  For example, Dell Latitude D610 notebooks will turn wireless off and on using the Function Key and F2 combination. 

In Windows XP, your computer will alert you that it has found wireless networks that you can connect to.

If you click on that message or if you right-click on the wireless icon

you will get a list of available networks or have the option of viewing available networks.

Double click on the network called PUBLIC.  This is the name of the wireless network that can be accessed by anyone. 

Do not connect to any other networks or connections!  You will not know what you are connecting to and there may be risks connecting to unauthorized networks.

Q: Why do I get a warning and is it safe to connect?

A. You will see the following message when you try to connect to PUBLIC.

You see this message because the network is not "encrypted". Encrypted means that the data is scrambled and could not be read if someone tried to eavesdrop on the network.  Encrypting the data would require establishing and giving out passwords.  Instead, the network is open for anyone to use. 

It is safe to use as long as you use follow some basic rules of thumb about computer security.

• Keep your computer up to date.  Apply the operating system patches for your computer.

• Have anti-virus software installed and keep it up to date.

• Do not send personal information to web sites that you do not explicitly trust.

• Make sure that any web site you send personal information to uses "https" in the address.

Using the campus wireless network is very much like using your home Internet connection or the wireless connections at Starbucks and elsewhere. 

Once you have made a successful connection, you will see something like the following (for Windows XP users):

Q: What Next?

A:  Open your web browser.  You will be directed to a web page for Clean Access, our system for allowing access to the campus network. 

Detailed information about Clean Access is here.

Web author: Jay Field