Hampshire College

What you will need to connect to our network

There are network jacks available in every student room. To connect to our high speed network, you will need an ethernet/network card in your computer and an ethernet cable to connect to the wall jack. Computer manufacturers have included ethernet cards in computers for many years now, so you most likely already have one. If your computer is more than 3-4 years old, you may want to check to be sure. Look for a jack on your computer that looks very similar to a phone jack, but is a little bit wider.

An ethernet cable almost always needs to be purchased separately from a computer or ethernet card. You will need an RJ45 ethernet cable to connect your computer to the network jack in your room. This is the same type of cable that is used to connect to highspeed cable and DSL connections in homes. We do have them for sale in our Campus Store, but you will find them for less money at your local Best Buy, Circuit City, Staples or similar retailer.
 
NetReg - Network Registration and Activation

We require all students to register all of their computers on the network at the beginning of each year. Registration is required for both wired and wireless connections. You can register as many computers as you want and it only needs to be done once a year. You do not need to re-register if you change rooms, but you will need to register for both wired and wireless connections.

When you first plug your computer into the network or connect to our public wireless network, open up any web browser. You will be redirected to the NetReg page, which requires you to login using your HampNet account. Once you have logged in, your computer will be scanned for major security vunerabilities. Once the scan and registration are complete, you will be instructed to restart your computer and your connection will become active.
 
Wireless on Campus

We currently have wireless connections available in all public spaces including the library, academic buildings and the dining commons. We do not have wireless available in student housing at this time.

Hampshire College maintains wireless networks based on 802.11b/g/a protocols. Two advertised SSID's are available appearing as wallace and hampguest in your wireless network selections. The public hampguest network provides internet access only. Wallace is a wireless network reserved for Hampshire students, faculty and staff. A HampNet logon is required to access wallace. Wallace users enjoy full access to campus resources available to student users.

Private wireless access points are not allowed or supported because they can create major problems with the campus network. You will also find that the wired ethernet access is significantly faster than wireless. Wired connections are also secure. Unencrypted wireless networks are vulnerable to sniffing and expose users to possible loss of sensitive information. The IT staff may disable wireless access points that are found to be creating a problem with the network.
 
Peer to Peer Filesharing, Copyright Info and Network Management

Peer to Peer (P2P) file sharing is a fact of modern life on the Internet. It's something all network engineers have to deal with. There are many good things about P2P, but it makes life very difficult for people managing large networks, especially ones with limited resources.

Our goal is to maximize legitimate academic uses of our network. Sometimes, in order to do this, we have to limit the availability of certain P2P protocols. If we allowed unrestricted use of P2P filesharing, use of our network for legitimate academic purposes would be compromised.

We are aware of the fact that there are legal and illegal uses for P2P, and differentiating between the two is problematic. Therefore, we recognize that from time to time, in order to maintain the integrity of our off-campus network access, we may need to limit all uses of P2P, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We ask that users of our network limit their use of P2P to legal and reasonable activities, and have respect for the other users of our network.

We will not and do not provide support or troubleshooting assistance of any kind for off-campus P2P activities. Please note that sharing of copyrighted material with persons not authorized to have possession of such materials is illegal and is punishable by fines and/or imprisonment.