The Technology Department at Texas A&M University-Commerce has begun transitioning the campus’s wireless Internet usage from the Virtual Private Network, or VPN, to a new system that will give students a simpler method for gaining access to the wireless web on campus.
“The VPN client is no longer needed to access the wireless on campus,” administrative technician Martha Parrish said.
Users will no longer need any additional software to access the wireless network. Instead the user trying to access the Internet will be greeted with a login screen when trying to open up a browsing page.
In technical terms, the VPN connection is way to pass secure encrypted information to travel between two different locations. On the A&M-Commerce campus there were two types of VPN, external VPN and wireless VPN. The external VPN is a connection via the Internet service provider (ISP), such as a cable modem or DSL that allowed the secure information to pass through a network in which traffic is encrypted. The wireless VPN allowed students and faculty to use the campus-wide wireless network.
“The change is ongoing as buildings are being transitioned from the old wireless system to the new one. ” network engineer John Hackett said. “The old wireless network ‘tamu-commerce’ will disappear from each area and be replaced by the new ‘TAMUC’ wireless network. In some locations both networks may be visible simultaneously. Users should always select the new one in this case. They may still dial the VPN with the new network if the user wants to encrypt their traffic or access an internal university system such as the Banner Student Information System.”
The VPN had three purposes on campus. First was to control access and to limit the use of faculty, students and staff. The second purpose was to protect the student’s records, both financial and otherwise private or sensitive data. The third purpose was to create different levels of access for different groups of users.
“For example, wireless users in the University Police Department require access to systems that are off-limits to all other faculty, staff and students because they contain information related to ongoing investigations,” Hackett said.
There were a few discrepancies with the old system such as security vulnerabilities and the VPN not working correctly with Windows Vista.
“Vulnerabilities in built-in security protocols such as WEP made them ineffective as a means of preventing eavesdropping,” Hackett said.
Additionally, many cell phones with wireless capabilities will now be able to access the wireless on campus. Before some of these cellular devices were unable to use the wireless because to access the network the user had to have the VPN client. Many devices such as the iPhone do not allow the installation of outside files onto the device.
“Before, I never went to the tech department to get the files on my laptop due to other activities taking up my time on campus,” junior criminal justice major Trey Feduccia said. “Now, however, I can conveniently access the net on my PC and my iPhone.”
Transition to the new system is scheduled for completion by Dec. 18 of this year. Any questions or problems may be directed to Technology Services at 903-468-6000 or helpdesk@tamu-commerce.edu