Frequently Asked Questions
Albright College – IT Services
Wireless Networking
Frequently Asked Questions
What areas of campus have improved wireless coverage?
A new wireless service has been installed in every residence hall on campus (Albright Court, Crowell Hall, Krause Hall, Mohn Hall, North Hall, Smith Hall, Walton Hall and the Woods Apartments). Additionally, the wireless networks in the Campus Center and the Library have also been upgraded. Plans are currently being made to update the wireless capability in other campus buildings.
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Why do I see multiple wireless networks (SSIDs) and which one do I connect to?
There are multiple wireless networks to serve different parts of our community for specific purposes. Below is a brief description of each wireless network and what it is used for.
The “Albright” SSID is the College’s primary wireless system. You should use this to connect to Albright College’s network and to the Internet with a laptop, iPad, smart phone, and any other wireless device that supports WPA Enterprise (a form of encryption for wireless networks that uses your network account to verify that you are a member of the Albright community). Once associated and authenticated with the “Albright” network, you will have full access to the network and the Internet.
The “PSK-AC” SSID is available for wireless devices that only support WPA or WPA2, but not WPA Enterprise (PSK stands for Pre-Shared Key, AC stands for Albright College). Examples of these devices are gaming consoles (such as Wii, PS3, and XBox 360 systems), older MP3 players, and eBook Readers (such as a Kindle or Nook). To connect your device to the PSK-AC network, you will need to get the pre-shared key from IT Services (contact the Help Desk, and we will mail you the necessary key to connect these devices).
The “Password-Reset-AC” SSID is available to reset the password for your campus network account (which is used to access three primary services: the “Albright” SSID, the on-campus computing labs, and Moodle). To be able to use this password reset system at some future date (when your password expires or if you’ve forgotten the password, for example), you will need to enroll in advance and identify several questions and answers that are not commonly known about you (for example, the name of your first pet, the city where you were born or your favorite movie actor). After resetting your password, you will need to disconnect from “Password-Reset-AC” and connect to the “Albright” SSID.
The “Guest-AC” SSID is available for use by guests of the College, vendors, guest lecturers, alumni, and other individuals who come to campus for a short time. In general, students should not need to access the “Guest-AC” wireless network. One exception is during the first few days of each academic year (for example from new student move-in day through the first weekend, a special guest account will be available with a username of “student” and a password of “student”. If incoming students cannot get immediately connected to the “Albright” SSID for some reason, they can use this guest account to access the Internet until they successfully connect with their actual credentials.
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I am an incoming student, what is my network username & password and how do I get them?
Your network username and password were mailed to you at your Albright College e-mail address. If you did not receive that message or do not remember the network username and password, you can connect to the “Guest-AC” SSID during the first few days of orientation (using the guest username “student” and password “student”); the Guest-AC network will allow you to gain access to the internet and your Albright e-mail account. If you do not know your e-mail username and password, please contact the IT Services Help Desk.
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I have a desktop computer without a wireless card?
Contact IT Services Help Desk for assistance.
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I have an Xbox 360 or another type of device that is not wireless enabled?
Contact IT Services Help Desk for assistance.
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Do I still need to use Cisco’s Clean Access?
No, you can uninstall the clean access agent from your computer at your convenience. However, Clean Access has been replaced with a new system called Safe Connect, which is much more effective and easy to use.
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Why do we need to have a system like Safe Connect?
Albright’s residence hall network is made up of over 1100 residents with more than 1500 computing devices. To make sure everyone is protected and that the College remains in good standing with our Internet Service Provider and the rest of the Internet community, it is necessary to ask everyone to protect their computers with up-to-date anti-virus programs. Safe Connect is the tool Albright has selected to minimize the risk of campus-wide virus outbreaks (by having up-to-date anti-virus protection).
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I do not have an anti-virus program or my subscription has expired, what do I do?
If you are happy with your anti-virus program but the subscription has expired, please contact your anti-virus vendor and purchase an additional year of service.
On the other hand, Albright is offering Symantec’s Endpoint Protection program to our students in the residence halls free of charge.
Alternately, there are several anti-virus program vendors (AVG Free, Avast, etc.) that offer a free version of their product for home and personal use. You can choose to download and install one of these products to get protection for your computer.
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Is it recommended that I hookup my wireless printer to the wireless network?
No. While it is possible to connect a wireless printer to the wireless network, IT Services recommends that you continue to connect directly to your printer using a USB cable. If you connect your printer to the wireless network, anyone (and everyone) in the residence halls could gain access to your printer.
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I have a question about wireless who do I ask?
You can contact the IT Services Help Desk at (610) 921-7676 during the following hours:
Monday-Thursday 8:00am - 10:00pm
Friday 8:00am - 6:00pm
Saturday 10:00am – 6:00pm
Sunday 12:00pm – 10:00pm
You can also reach the Help Desk staff via e-mail at helpdesk@albright.edu.
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