Connecting to the Wireless LAN
In January of 2002, the department commissioned the installation of two
802.11b wireless access points. One was installed in the conference
room in room L324, and the other in the
Wilkinson Cluster lab.
Requirements
- A compatible 802.11b network interface card (NIC)
- A valid netid
- Virtual Private Network (VPN) client software (This is available for
download after the wireless link has been established. It's also built
into newer versions of Windows.)
Step-by-step instructions
- NIC software configuration:
The configuration steps for the wireless card software will vary from
vendor to vendor, but the important settings are
- SSID = nuwlan (must be all lowercase)
- WEP encryption = disabled/off
- Mode = infrastructure
- DHCP:
Set up your PC to get its IP address via DHCP. Note that unless you at some
point specifically set up an IP address, Windows defaults to obtaining its
network configuration information--including IP address--via DHCP, so in
the general case, nothing needs to be done for this step.
- Obtain an IP address:
Start a DOS shell by clicking on Start->Run... and then typing
cmd for Windows XP and 2000 or typing command for
Windows 95, 98, and ME. Next, type ipconfig /all and look for
your NIC. Use the ipconfig /renew command to obtain an IP address
with Windows XP and 2000. Use ipconfig /renew NIC_number
for the other Windows versions.
- Start the VPN client:
VPN is required to use the wireless network. If you don't already have the VPN
client software,
you can start Netscape or Internet Explorer and try to connect to any web site. NUIT's
router will then redirect you to their VPN client download page. Follow the
instructions therein to download and install the VPN client software. Note
that the VPN software uses your netid for authentication purposes, so you
must know your netid and netid password in order to use it. Once the client
is installed and running according to the instructions on the NUIT web page,
you're
all finished. You may now reach any network destination as if you were on
a wired LAN.
NUIT's VPN page may also be reached at:
http://www.tss.northwestern.edu/vpn/
Important note: The CFS does not support the wireless LAN. Please
contact
NU IT TNS for problems.
2145 Sheridan Road . Evanston / IL . 60208
Phone: 847-491-8140 . FAX: 847-491-4455
webmaster@ece.northwestern.edu
Tue Oct 21 10:36:23 CDT 2003