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UCInet Mobile Access

Visitor Access to UCInet Mobile Access

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UCInet Mobile Access is UCI’s wireless (WiFi) network, accessible from almost anywhere on campus.  Normally, access to this network is restricted to devices previously registered by their campus (faculty, staff, student) owners.

However, the wireless network includes a system for limited, short-term access by visitors.  Called “Visitor Express Registration,” visitors may connect to the network, agree to certain terms of use, then be connected to UCInet for a 24-hour period up to seven times in a month.  Visitor use of UCInet is restricted to Web, email (IMAP and SMTP), and secure shell (SSH).

If visitors need longer access than Visitor Registration provides, a UCI faculty, staff, or graduate student may register the visitor’s device for up to 4 weeks using manual registration.  The visitor only needs to supply the MAC address.

UCI also supports the Eduroam standard, allowing visitors whose home institution also supports Eduroam to use that network ID to connect to UCInet Mobile Access.

Visitor Access to UCInet

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UCInet Mobile Access

1-Day Access

Visitors to the campus who need temporary access to the internet with a laptop or mobile device may make use of Express Registration for the UCInet Mobile Access network.  In order to do this, the visitor should go to a wireless access location, open a web browser, and connect to any web page.  (See list of wireless locations). This will direct the visitor to our registration process.  Access is granted for 24 hours, and this access will only be granted seven times in a 30-day period. Visitor access is restricted to Web, email, and secure shell (SSH).

4-Week Access

There is a second option for visitors who need access to UCInet beyond the restrictions of Express Registration.  Manual Registration is a process by which UCI faculty, staff, or graduate students can authorize access for a visitor.  The authorizer will need to use his or her own UCINetID and password, and will need the MAC address (the unique address of the network card) of the visitor’s laptop or other mobile device.  More information on these two options can be found at the UCInet Mobile Access Registration page.

Longer-Term Access

Another option is available for guests whose visit to UCI will be longer than a month.  (Examples include visiting scholars, volunteer faculty/staff, or those who may be employees of a different UC campus but are teaching here.)  In these cases a faculty or management-level staff member may request a Sponsored UCInetID for the visitor.  This is essentially a normal UCInetID, but it is only valid for as long as the sponsor authorizes it — typically one to four quarters.  Note that the Sponsored UCInetID request form is now online and requires the sponsor to log in with his or her own UCInetID and password.

Eduroam

Visitors from participating educational institutions may choose to gain access to UCInet using their home-campus network identities via the Eduroam secure federated network access service.  For eligible visitors, this option may be a better choice given the requirements and restrictions of the alternatives listed above.

Improving Wireless Connectivity

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UCInet Mobile Access

UCInet Mobile Access

UCInet Mobile Access, UCI’s wireless network, comprises more than 800 access points (APs).  An “access point” is a network device which your computer connects to using wireless Ethernet.  The access point then forwards your network traffic to the wired network, in this case UCInet.

Express Registration

Express Registration allows a UCI affiliate to connect to the wireless network with a UCInetID and password, no longer requiring advance registration of the wireless card’s MAC address (that’s the 12-digit code arranged as six pairs separated by colons). Visitor Express Registration allows visitors to the campus to gain temporary access to the network without arranging for a sponsor.

WISM

NACS has recently deployed a new wireless technology (Cisco’s Wireless Internet Service Module — “WISM”) which enables a variety of new services.  WISM technology improves the performance of the wireless network by:

  • automatically and dynamically allocating bandwidth as needed
  • using dynamic channel reassignment to reduce channel conflicts and interference from competing APs
  • dynamically adjusting the wireless transmission power output of the APs
  • allowing “seamless roaming” between APs.

WISM also provides NACS with better tools to manage, monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize the wireless network, and makes Express Registration possible.

These new features are only available in certain campus buildings where WISM has been deployed, including Bren Hall, the Student Center, and the Libraries. NACS continues to deploy the WISM technology in more locations on campus and, subject to available funding, will eventually deploy WISM technology in all campus wireless network locations.

Guest Wireless Registration

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NACS now offers faculty and staff the ability to sponsor temporary wireless guest access. Guest registration is intended for use by faculty and staff who need to temporarily enable wireless UCInet network access for visiting colleagues.

To add temporary guest registrations, visit the current registration page:

http://www.nacs.uci.edu/mobile/registration.html

Click on the “Register to use Mobile Access” link, login with your UCInetID and password, and click the “Add Guest Registrations” link. You may register up to 25 systems. You may then select an expiration date of one day, one week, or four weeks hence.

For more information, please visit the UCInet Mobile Access main Web page at:

http://www.nacs.uci.edu/mobile/

Or, for additional help, please call or email NACS.

BioSci Gets High-Speed Wireless

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In partnership with Biological Sciences (Bio Sci), NACS recently completed the installation of UCInet Mobile Access wireless networking in McGaugh Hall using a new higher speed wireless network technology called 802.11g (“11g”). This is the first 11g service installed at UCI.

The 11g technology can perform up to five times as fast as the 802.11b (“11b”) wireless technology used at UCI until now. Another advantage of 11g is that it is “backward compatible” with 11b network cards, so computers that have worked at other UCI wireless sites will still work at BioSci (albeit at the slower speed). NACS will soon be installing 11g in Steinhaus Hall.