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| Q: |
Why is access to AirPennNet done differently than Wireless PennNet? |
| A: |
There are three main reasons:
- The technical infrastructure used for Wireless PennNet will not scale to the
numbers (about 500 Access Points) that are installed for AirPennNet.
- The protocol used by AirPennNet (802.1X) is an industry standard for authentication.
- AirPennNet is more secure than Wireless PennNet because every communication over AirPennNet is encrypted to protect the privacy and integrity of your data.
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| Q: |
What is SecureW2, and what does it do, exactly? |
| A: |
SecureW2 allows Windows XP and Vista computers to communicate your PennKey credentials securely to Penn's AirPennNet infrastructure. It does not access any documents, data, browser cache or bookmark files, or email on your computer. It does not monitor network activity in any way. Penn's installer improves upon the software freely downloadable from the SecureW2 web site by preconfiguring as much as possible to reduce the installation process from about 28 steps to just a handful.
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| Q: |
If have a Mac; do I need to install SecureW2? |
| A: |
No. Mac OS (10.3.9 and later) is capable of communicating your PennKey credentials securely to Penn's AirPennNet infrastructure already using Internet Connect, which understands 802.1X. Penn's installer for 802.1X just does the configuration steps for you automatically. Neither Internet Connect nor Penn's installer access any documents, data, browser cache or bookmark files, or email on your computer. Neither monitors network activity in any way.
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| Q: |
Your configuration page lists instructions
for Windows and Mac OS. What about other platforms? |
| A: |
The University supports Windows and Mac
OS for desktop systems. Though it may be technically possible to use
the AirPennNet service from other platforms, no plans have been
made to include configuration instructions for other operating systems.
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| Q: |
I'm having trouble connecting. Who can I
turn to for help? |
| A: |
Several resources are available
if you are having a difficult time establishing your connection
to AirPennNet.
- Laptop users can consult the configuration
instructions for their operating system (Mac, Windows XP, or Windows Vista)
to be sure they've got everything configured correctly.
- You can subscribe to
the wireless newsgroup
(upenn.tech-talk.wireless),
a valuable resource devoted to further discussion about experiences
with Wireless
PennNet and various laptop and handheld
wireless devices. To obtain configuration information for Penn's
supported netnews software, visit the "netnews" section
of the Supported Products web site.
- You can also contact your Local Support Provider
for additional support.
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| Q: |
My Windows XP machine is telling me that my "computer has multiple connections" to the network. Should I let it automatically configure my network? |
| A: |
No, you should choose "Let me choose the connections to my network." By
default, Windows XP's Network Setup Wizard tries to "bridge"
(connect) multiple network connections together. Bridging network
devices is not appropriate on PennNet, and can cause network disruption
on your computer as well as others on PennNet. See Microsoft's
knowledge base article Q283429 for information about how to
complete the Network Setup Wizard without enabling bridging.
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