The MSU Denver Technology Department is working to fix recent Wi-Fi outages and is encouraging students and faculty to comment on problem coverage areas.
The university added two Wi-Fi networks this semester to offer secure access and greater reliability, but the networks have experienced outages.
Some reasons for the outages include user authentication errors, the amount of users and rogue access points, said Mike Hart, director of security, networking, asset management, procurement and infrastructure.
“A rogue access point could be a department with its own access point. In the past, those incidences were not really an issue because there may not have been sufficient coverage in that building to begin with,” Hart said. “Now that we have 100 percent coverage, it is happening more frequently. We have to locate the department and inform them that the access point is causing an issue.”
The networks were added because the Auraria Campus Wi-Fi has a lot of user traffic, which decreases bandwidth and is unsecured so anyone can see the user’s personal information.
One of the new networks is the “MetroState Service Set Identifier (SSID)” and is exclusively available to MSU Denver students, faculty and staff. This network is authenticated which means students need a university account to connect. It is secure once you connect and it has greater bandwidth, which allows more information to be downloaded faster.
“The Wi-Fi is actually a lot better than it was last year because I can get service in the library and everywhere else,” said Chloe Scheer, an MSU Denver senior. “I have to do research papers for class which requires me to get on the Internet and it was really difficult last year when I couldn’t find decent Wi-Fi.”
The other network is the “Test_MSUDenverSecure (SSID)” which is the secure Wi-Fi for MSU Denver students, faculty and staff. This network is still being tested and will be periodically shut down for maintenance, Hart said.
Hart estimated that the secure Wi-Fi will be fully operational sometime next semester and wants students and faculty to go directly to the IT help desk in either the Administration building or the West classroom if they experience any connectivity problems with the new networks.
The MSU Denver Technology Department is working to fix recent Wi-Fi outages and is encouraging students and faculty to comment on problem coverage areas.
The university added two Wi-Fi networks this semester to offer secure access and greater reliability, but the networks have experienced outages.
Some reasons for the outages include user authentication errors, the amount of users and rogue access points, said Mike Hart, director of security, networking, asset management, procurement and infrastructure.
“A rogue access point could be a department with its own access point. In the past, those incidences were not really an issue because there may not have been sufficient coverage in that building to begin with,” Hart said. “Now that we have 100 percent coverage, it is happening more frequently. We have to locate the department and inform them that the access point is causing an issue.”
The networks were added because the Auraria Campus Wi-Fi has a lot of user traffic, which decreases bandwidth and is unsecured so anyone can see the user’s personal information.
One of the new networks is the “MetroState Service Set Identifier (SSID)” and is exclusively available to MSU Denver students, faculty and staff. This network is authenticated which means students need a university account to connect. It is secure once you connect and it has greater bandwidth, which allows more information to be downloaded faster.
“The Wi-Fi is actually a lot better than it was last year because I can get service in the library and everywhere else,” said Chloe Scheer, an MSU Denver senior. “I have to do research papers for class which requires me to get on the Internet and it was really difficult last year when I couldn’t find decent Wi-Fi.”
The other network is the “Test_MSUDenverSecure (SSID)” which is the secure Wi-Fi for MSU Denver students, faculty and staff. This network is still being tested and will be periodically shut down for maintenance, Hart said.
Hart estimated that the secure Wi-Fi will be fully operational sometime next semester and wants students and faculty to go directly to the IT help desk in either the Administration building or the West classroom if they experience any connectivity problems with the new networks.
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