UAPublic vs UAWifi

[Unregistered]

Why would I want to go through the hassle of connecting to the UAWiFi network when the UAPublic network works just fine and I dont have to bother with the authentication? Is there anything that I can not do with UAPublic that I can with UAWifi

Also does UAWifi track your activity on the network?

Also...does your MAC Address have to be registered to use UAPublic? I registered mine a long time ago and was wondering if its necesary for UAPublic

[dcv]

Why would I want to go through the hassle of connecting to the UAWiFi network when the UAPublic network works just fine and I dont have to bother with the authentication? Is there anything that I can not do with UAPublic that I can with UAWifi

Also does UAWifi track your activity on the network?

Also...does your MAC Address have to be registered to use UAPublic? I registered mine a long time ago and was wondering if its necesary for UAPublic

UAWifi is an encrypted network, meaning that nefarious characters can't "sniff" what you're doing as you surf the internet. UAPublic is unencrypted and allows for this possibility, so when I'm on UAPublic, I tend not to do important things (like check e-mail accounts that don't have secure logins).

More practically, UAWifi does allow you to do things that you can't do on UAPublic - Most e-mail clients (Outlook, Thunderbird, Apple Mail, etc.) you won't be able to use on UAPublic, but you can use them on UAWifi. UAWifi also allows you to use things like SSH/SFTP.

I don't *think* that you have to register your MAC address to use UAPublic, but I could be wrong.

[Unregistered]

I was wondering why my outlook never worked through the UAPublic, good to know, do they just block the necessary ports?

So the actual traffic is encrypted on UAWifi? and the traffic is unencrypted on Public?

[dparm]

UAWiFi = 256-bit encryption

UAPublic = no encryption


All ports except for HTTP & HTTPS are blocked on Public.

[picch]

Also does UAWifi track your activity on the network?

Also...does your MAC Address have to be registered to use UAPublic? I registered mine a long time ago and was wondering if its necesary for UAPublic

SIRT and CCIT monitor all traffic across the UA Network both on wired and wireless connections, keep logs of the activity. If you're asking if someone else can monitor your traffic then Dane's response would be your answer.

You don't need to register your wireless MAC address to use UAWiFi. The only thing you need to do is register your UANetID at https://netid.arizona.edu/wireless_reg.php and make sure your computer is properly configured. We have a detailed PDF file with pictures and extremely easy to follow instructions on our website at oscr.arizona.edu/wireless

If you want to use your Ethernet jack to plug in around campus your MAC address for it needs to be registered, (the only exception being the residence halls, that has a whole different set of requirements).

[dparm]

Does CCIT track what you do? Yes and no.

They do not sit there watching each person individually all the time, but they have the ability to if they believe you are doing something illegal and/or against the terms of use.

[Unregistered]

Does CCIT track what you do? Yes and no.

They do not sit there watching each person individually all the time, but they have the ability to if they believe you are doing something illegal and/or against the terms of use.

That would be sad. Guys just sit there all day monitoring the traffic.

[nlopez]

Could be entertaining too, if they fire up airsnarf and watch all the images fly by.

[picch]

Could be entertaining too, if they fire up airsnarf and watch all the images fly by.

I was considering doing that for a presentation, to explain why you wouldn't want to do your online banking over open wireless for example.

[dparm]

I would advise against doing it on campus...CCIT probably wouldn't be too happy.

[Unregistered]

Can the university network administrators open up the ports for SMTP and POP3 traffic until this UAWifi / Vista issued gets resolved? I have a new PC with Vista and it is annoying as hell that I can't send and receive mail in outlook while one campus and connected to the UAPublic network.

[dparm]

Use the VPN client with UAPublic.

They will not be making any changes as of right now.

[jharriso]

Clearchannel has taken down their copy of the 5.0 Cisco VPN client. Until the University gets it, anyone who can't get it from someone else is out of luck.

[dparm]

Not so...just run a Google search. There are plenty of other sites hosting it.

[jharriso]

This is true - but I have yet to find one that doesn't require authentication as, say, a student of some given university. You can't get it directly from Cisco either.

[dparm]

I actually didn't mind the old UAwireless logon method.

[Unregistered]

everytime i try to connect to UApublic it says limited connection or no connection. i've connected before at the student union building. do i need to change some settings on the computer?

[dparm]

Could you be more specific? Computer model, locations you've tried, etc. The more you can tell us the more info we can provide.

[Unregistered]

Could you be more specific? Computer model, locations you've tried, etc. The more you can tell us the more info we can provide.

couple of weeks ago, i was able to log on to uapublic at the first floor of the student union. however, since then, i have had no luck whatsoever in getting connected to uapublic (either at student union first floor or at main library 3rd floor study rooms or science library study rooms (all floors). everytime i try to connect, i see a strong signal but my thinkpad takes forever connecting and it never does in the end. it always ends with 'limited or no connectivity.'

also, should i be able to connect to uapublic, can i use computer based voip?

[richard5]

couple of weeks ago, i was able to log on to uapublic at the first floor of the student union. however, since then, i have had no luck whatsoever in getting connected to uapublic (either at student union first floor or at main library 3rd floor study rooms or science library study rooms (all floors). everytime i try to connect, i see a strong signal but my thinkpad takes forever connecting and it never does in the end. it always ends with 'limited or no connectivity.'

also, should i be able to connect to uapublic, can i use computer based voip?

You will not be able to use viop through UApublic. Only http and https are allowed. Basically that means just web browsing. If you want to be able to use voip connect through UAWiFi.

Are you having any difficulty connecting to any other WiFi networks or is it just UApublic? Are you using the windows configuration utility or a third party utility?

Open up the start menu, go to control panel, network connections, right click on the wireless connection and go to properties. The box in the middle ofr the window will have several options, one of them being tcp/ip. Highlight that one then click properties. Make sure the check box for automatically obtain an ip address is check as well as for dns.

[justinm1]

UAPublic allows port 80 and most of the secure ports.

As to you connection problems I can not stress enough about having current drivers. As many issues as users may see or think that the U of A network has it is quite the opposite. U of A wireless network is one of the largest in an educational setting along with its level of encryption. It is both a gift and a curse, as long as you have sufficient drivers you will rarely experience an issue. About 9-12 months ago Intel sent engineers here to test and modify their drivers. What you will want to do is to check the manufacture of your wireless cards website and check often. Intel has been releasing new drivers about every month for the past 6 months. (last driver update was 11/7/07).

How do I get new drivers?
Windows Update is not the answer. While although it may provide a driver to access WiFi at your house or UAPublic, these drivers are typicaly far outdated as they have to be signed and certified in most cases. As in your case (I have a T60p) IBM provides wireless drivers as well that have been customized and certified for you hardware. If you need help you can bring your laptop to our NOC or OSCR and someone will be glad to assist you.

Additionally if you or others need help I read these forums at least once a day and if you post your model of wireless card and operating system, I can try to help you find wireless drivers.

[Unregistered]

but the thing that get's me is up till couple of months ago, i was able to get connection and surf the web without any problem through the uapublic....i'm thinking, if nothing, wouldn't the 'old' drivers for the wireless card on my laptop still work? why would old the old driver just simply quit on me?

also, i'm wondering how often the wifi broadband get's all used up (by uawifi, uaguest) to a point where it kicks out uapublic connections? are there peak times when it's more advisable to try connecting on uapublic? are there certain locations/hot spots on campus where it's less congested with internet traffic? just wondering.

i'm going to try again to update my drivers again...keeping my fingers crossed. thanx

[justinm1]

I understand your reasoning about if you have not changed anything that it should still work. Any number of things could be causing your current issues so its hard to say. Updated drivers will 9/10 resolve you issue. As far as WiFi broadband getting all used up. It is very very unlikely. Each access point has two radios which can handle 254 MAC address each so essentially it could connect 500+ people off of one access point. Behind each radio is capable of 54mbps. Now this is all for a single access point, pending where you are on campus their will be number access points that you are within range of. The system uses controllers that will automatically balance load to surrounding AP's nearby.

[Unregistered]

i'm going bonkers...i just sat down for 2+ hours and reloaded all the updated drivers....and STILL i'm not connecting to anything. the antennae detects strong signals....but it 'aquires' forever....and ends up with 'limited or no connectivity'. what the heck am i doing wrong? could it be some hardware issue? i think for some reason it's just more than my wifi...my trackpoint/touchpad has not been responsive and my screen goes into hibernation/standby twice. i'm frustated as heck. at my wits end.

[gruthar]

Couple of things to check for. One is to make sure that your wireless connection is not set to use a static IP address. The other possibility is that you've been blocked from the network. You can lookup your wireless card's MAC address to see if it's been blocked here:
http://www.sirt.arizona.edu/gotblocked/

To check your IP settings, go to the control panel, open up the network connections. Right click on your wireless card, go to properties. Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), then click on the properties button. Obtaining the IP and DNS should both be set to automatic - open up the alternate configuration tab and make sure it's also set to automatic there.

As a final thought, have you tried using UAWiFi instead of UAPublic? Any difference?

[Unregistered]

Couple of things to check for. One is to make sure that your wireless connection is not set to use a static IP address. The other possibility is that you've been blocked from the network. You can lookup your wireless card's MAC address to see if it's been blocked here:
http://www.sirt.arizona.edu/gotblocked/

To check your IP settings, go to the control panel, open up the network connections. Right click on your wireless card, go to properties. Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), then click on the properties button. Obtaining the IP and DNS should both be set to automatic - open up the alternate configuration tab and make sure it's also set to automatic there.

As a final thought, have you tried using UAWiFi instead of UAPublic? Any difference?

i think there's something more serious...even when i go to ANY public wifi hotspots (i.e. bookmans, restaurants, even tucson public library) i can't seem to get online....always the strong signal, long aquisition time, and inevitable limited or no connectivity.

wondering if one of those external slot wifi cards or usb wifi devices could circumvent all this issue?

[Unregistered]

i think there's something more serious...even when i go to ANY public wifi hotspots (i.e. bookmans, restaurants, even tucson public library) i can't seem to get online....always the strong signal, long aquisition time, and inevitable limited or no connectivity.

wondering if one of those external slot wifi cards or usb wifi devices could circumvent all this issue?

yeah, it's all set to auto

[gruthar]

If you think it's a hardware issue and have ruled out other possibilities, then you can certainly use an external card in lieu of the built-in wireless chip. I would recommend the PCMCIA cards over the USB chipsets if you do decide to go that route. USB wireless cards tend to be problematic.

[Unregistered]

Could be entertaining too, if they fire up airsnarf and watch all the images fly by.

What is the difference between the two?