Lyon College campus now offers wireless Internet

March 26, 2007

Lyon College has just taken a step ahead of most schools by being one of the first in the state to feature wireless Internet throughout its campus.

One of the first institutions in the state to provide Internet access to each and every residence hall, the college has taken this latest technological step at the urging of President Walter Roettger.

The only areas on campus that are excluded are the Nichols Administration Building and the Holloway Theatre, where wireless access would be unnecessary. The Derby Center also won’t have wireless access due to the large number of wired ports already installed there.

All the residence halls now have wireless access, as do sitting areas outside the dorms so students can have Internet access there as well. Becknell Gymnasium previously had wireless installed, while an antenna placed on top of the maintenance building now gives wireless access to the track and soccer field area.

Also, an antenna recently installed on the baseball complex provides coverage to the nearby field and press box. In the future, it will also allow wireless access in the area of the softball field, which will occupy the location currently used as an intramural field.

Jay Zahner, director of information services, said that because of the large area undergoing wireless expansion, students might initially find some areas around the campus having a weak signal when trying to use the new wireless access.

"We recognize that there will be some dead spots in the beginning and fully expect to make adjustments," he said. "Therefore, we actively encourage students, faculty and staff to let us know if they are getting low signal strength. Essentially, that gives us an army of field testers."

To use the new service, a student’s computer must be equipped for wireless connectivity. Most laptops have that capability already built in, but if not, they should have a slot into which an adapter card may be inserted.

While most residence halls and other interior parts of the campus will not require the use of a password key to access the wireless, those portions of the system where coverage would likely extend off campus will be protected in that manner. Passwords will be published within the Lyon community.

In addition to the new wireless offerings, all College facilities, including every student residence hall room, the computer laboratories and the cyber café in the student union, are also connected to the campus fiber-optic network, which provides access to e-mail, the Internet and standard software applications.