Many UAA students, employees and visitors to the Anchorage campus have enjoyed the wireless campus network service over the past two years. Usage was small initially but has grown steadily and users have frequently asked why coverage didn’t include more of the Anchorage campus.
Over the past year, Phase III of UAA’s wireless campus network has been in the works in Anchorage. Engineers have responded to requests for better coverage by dramatically increasing the number of access points from less than 100 to over 300. The new network delivers two distinct services geared to the needs of our community.
A UAA WiFi–Public service retains open-access service familiar to most over the past several years but limits both speed and certain access. It is intended for visitors to the University. Specifically, this service limits network connectivity to 256Kb/s per connection. Users may access university web resources only using the http: protocol. This latter limitation is due to security requirements and the fact that the public may use this service without having to first qualify and identify themselves.
A second service, UAA WiFi–Full Access, provides access comparable to wired campus connections but requires that users login with their UAA username/password credentials. It is intended for employees or students of the University of Alaska system. For users familiar with wired connectivity on the Anchorage campus, this service is comparable. Connections will support full 802.11b or 802.11g speeds. Due to the fact that users must authenticate (i.e., log in) there will be no access limitations.
Users can find more information about how to connect to these two new Phase III wireless services at http://technology.uaa.alaska.edu/computer/network/wireless/. Users may also contact the IT Call Center at 786-4646 or 877-633-3888 for personal assistance.
In addition to offering these two wireless services, UAA’s Phase III wireless network has new functionality for managing security, including capabilities to neutralize unauthorized, or “rogue” wireless access points that are not part of the campus infrastructure. These capabilities are being announced today with the understanding that they will be implemented October 1. Employees who have installed private wireless access points should begin moving users to the new UAA WiFi–Full Access service over the next month in order to prevent unexpected loss of service when security management services are implemented.
