User FAQ
What
do I need to access the wireless network?
You will need to have a computing device (e.g., laptop, PDA) capable
of utilizing a wireless adapter card and a wireless adapter that
supports the IEEE 802.11b standard. Some computing devices are now
coming with wireless capability built in, in this case you don't
need a separate adapter card. You will also need a valid Gatorlink
account to be able to log in to the network via the campus VPN service
or through the WIPA
authentication system.
Which
wireless card do you recommend?
We recommend the Cisco Aironet 350 wireless client adapter (AIR-PCM352).
There are also older 340 series adapters available that may be available
at a lower price. The newer 350 cards have a higher power output
capability and more advanced performance features.
Where
can I buy the Cisco Aironet cards?
The Cisco Aironet cards can be purchased through the University of Florida Bookstore
located in the Bookstore and Welcome Center, attached to the
Reitz Union. You may also be able to find them through on-line
retailers.
Can
I use another brand of wireless card?
There are many other brands of wireless adapters. Companies that
make compatible products include 3Com, Apple, Lucent, Compaq, Dell,
Linksys, and many others. If you use another brand of card it should
support the 802.11b standard.
Additionally the product should have the 'WiFi' logo. All devices
that are WECA approved
should carry the WiFi logo. A listing of Wi-Fi
certified products can be found at the WECA site. There are
many types available and some are much less expensive. As long as
they are 'WiFi' compatible they should work. The potential downside
is that they may not access the network at as high a speed and advanced
features like roaming may not work as well.
We are using the Cisco Aironet 350 Access Points so to take full
advantage of all the performance features that may be available
a Cisco Aironet card is recommended.
Can
I use 'HomeRF' standard cards?
No. The HomeRF cards use a different type of radio technology and
it is not compatible with the 'WiFi' family of products.
How
do I configure my wireless network card?
The Cisco cards will not require any special configuration. Follow
the installation instructions and activate the card. Other brands
of client adapters should work with their default configuration
as well. If they don't then go to the
Troubleshooting page for more assistance.
What
do I enter for the SSID, radio channel, and WEP key?
You should not enter any enter any of this information. If you do
configure any of these settings you may not be able to access the
network. Your client in it's default configuration should be able
to automatically detect the settings it needs from the network. If however
your card should require an SSID to be configured you should set it to 'ufw'
as this is the SSId in use by the campus system. For further assistance on
wireless client configuration go to the Troubleshooting
page for more information.
How
do I need to configure my computer?
Instructions on how to configure various Windows versions to use the
wireless network are listed at the CIRCA's UF Software CD Wireless Connectivity Help page. Click on your version of windows on the left-hand menu.
Everything is
installed and configured, how do I get on the network?
Once your wireless card is active and you are associated to a wireless
access point you need to log in to the network. This can be accomplished by one
of two methods. The first is to use the campus VPN service.
Use of the VPN will provide a secure connection across the wireless network
and is the recommended method for connecting to the wireless system. If
however the VPN client is not installed or not available you can log in to the
network via a standard web browser. Simply open a web browser and you will
be redirected to the login page. If for some reason the login page does not
appear perform a full reload (usually [Shift]+reload) of your browser. The
process is described at the WIPA
site. Note that if you have the VPN client you do not need to log in
via the web page.
What if I am
still having problems getting it to work?
Check the Troubleshooting page
for more assistance.
Where
can I access the wireless network?
You can access the wireless service in any of the indoor and/or
outdoor areas where the service has been deployed. Go here for a
current Coverage Map.
How
fast is the connection?
Although they are marketed as 11Mbps devices the actual throughput
is in reality less than 7Mbps. The rest of the bandwidth is consumed
by protocol overhead. In an ideal environment with only a single
user connecting to an access point it might be possible to achieve
6Mbps. This can be greatly affected by the environment, harmful
interference, and number of users using the system.
What
is the network best used for?
It is ideally suited for applications that require mobility
and for locations that are difficult or impossible to wire conventionally.
It facilitates and offers new opportunities for research and education.
It is also useful for more mundane purposes like checking e-mail
or web browsing. Low bandwidth applications in general are the best
fit. The limitations of the wireless system can cause unreliable
service for applications that require high bandwidth usage.
What
should I not use the wireless network for?
As discussed above, applications that require a lot of bandwidth
should not be expected to run reliably over the wireless network.
This would apply to things like streaming audio/video, running server
based applications, large file transfers, and interactive graphic
environments (games).
What
problems do wireless networks have?
Wireless systems are limited in bandwidth and they are a 'shared'
medium. This means that multiple users have to share the network
so the total potential speed of the network gets split among them.
It also carries security concerns (see next section). To make matters
worse there are problems that occur as traffic increases on shared
networks that can render them useless. Additionally, there are problems
that can arise from environmental conditions and radio frequency
interference.
Are
there security issues with using this system?
Yes, there are definite security issues associated using a wireless
connection that all users should be aware of. The fact that a wireless
network is a shared environment means that anyone within RF reception
distance of you can see every packet you send. The expertise level
required to accomplish this is quite low as well. For this reason
you should never use any unsecured connections to connect to wireless
accounts. The following uses would compromise your account userid
and password if run over an unsecured channel that was under observation:
-
Checking your e-mail through either a POP or IMAP based client.
(Although you can send mail as this doesn't usually require that
an account password be used).
- Logging in to an Internet site over a non-secure web page.
- FTPing a file to or from a remote account.
- Opening a telnet session to a remote host.
For these reasons we strongly recommend the use of the campus Virtual Private
Network (VPN) system. The client software is relatively easy to install and
is available for free for most operating systems. Use of the VPN client
will help to insure the security of your network activity. For more information
and to obtain the VPN client software please go to the VPN service page.
If for some
reason you are unable to use the VPN connection there are application level
services you can use to help secure your wireless communications. For e-mail
use a web based e-mail system that offers an SSL connection. This service is
available for Gatorlink email accounts at https://webmail.ufl.edu/.
For remote host connections like telnet and FTP, utilize SSH services to provide
a secure connection. It is a good idea to use SSH connections even
with the use of a VPN connection to help ensure end to end security.
I've
heard about WEP encryption for wireless networks, what is it and
why aren't we using it?
WEP stands for Wired Equivalent Privacy and is a mechanism for providing
encrypted communication over 802.11 wireless networks. Early on
we decided to avoid the use of WEP for a number of reasons. WEP
is based on a shared key system. A large part of the security relies
upon maintaining the secrecy of the WEP key. Unfortunately all clients
that access the system need to have the key. In a large environment
where potentially thousands of hosts have the key, it's secrecy
becomes nonexistent. There are newer protocols emerging that offer
solutions for this problem but that haven't matured yet. Another
reason WEP was rejected is that there is degree of protocol overhead
and latency associated with using WEP encryption. Also, there was
some incompatibility between vendor implementations and we wanted
to maintain as generic an environment as possible. Most recently,
there have also been reports that the WEP encryption mechanism can
easily be cracked.
Can
I walk around while accessing the network?
Yes, this is called 'roaming'. However there are limitations. Areas
of campus are broken into regions because of network infrastructure
issues. If you don't cross the boundary of the region you are in
you will be able to move around without loosing connectivity. If
you should cross one of these boundaries you may maintain a wireless
connection but you will have to reauthenticate via the WIPA
process to access the network again. As these regions become defined
we will post a map to show the general boundaries.
Do
the radio frequency emissions from these systems pose a health risk?
Wireless LAN systems meet stringent government and industry regulations
for safety. The power output of wireless LAN systems is very low,
much less than that of a handheld cellular phone. As a comparison
a typical cell phone has a power output of around 600mW where as
the wireless LAN systems have a maximum power output of about 100mW.
No adverse health effects have ever been attributed to wireless
LAN systems.
