Changes are underway to improve the performance and convenience
of the Saint Louis University network.
Wireless Internet access is already available in a number of
buildings on campus, including the Busch Student Center, Des Peres
Hall, Salus Center, Cook Hall, McDonnell-Douglas Hall, Morrissey
Hall, Omar Poos Library, Queen’s Daughters Hall and Wuller Hall.
According to Information Technology Services, plans are underway to
expand “Billiken Wireless” capabilities to more buildings on
campus, and according to the website wireless.slu.edu, ITS is also
exploring the possibility of adding outdoor wireless access.
W. Andrew Wimmer, ITS administrator of academic and research
support, said that there are currently no plans to make the campus
entirely wireless by next year, contrary to the rumor that is going
around campus.
“We are going to go building by building,” he said.
Adding wireless Internet access to the dorms is “a long way
off,” Wimmer added.
However, plans are underway with the Department of Housing and
Residence Life to convert some rooms in the residence halls to
computer workrooms, where students will be able to plug in their
laptops for Internet access.
Wimmer described the addition of wireless Internet to the
network as a long-term project.
“Over time, we are going to invest less money in hardware, and
be redirecting more money toward wireless access,” Wimmer said.
According to the wireless website, a wireless network is not a
replacement for the current network; rather, it is a complement.
Wireless networks cannot support high-bandwidth operations, such as
peer-to-peer file sharing and online gaming. The technology is
described as “a tradeoff of portability versus speed,” according to
the website.
ITS has also addressed the security issue, which, students say,
is an especially big problem with wireless access. Users will be
required to enter a username and password using an authentication
agent in Windows XP.
People with questions about making their laptops or palm
computers wireless-ready should contact ITS at 977-4000 or visit
their website at wireless.slu.edu.
