Loughborough University
Leicestershire, UK
LE11 3TU
+44 (0)1509 263171
Loughborough University

IT Services

Wireless Network

Photo: Person using a laptop in bar area.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. Can I connect in Halls of Residence?

  2. Can I use the wireless networks at other Universities and Colleges?

  3. Can I use my VOIP phone, PSP, Nintendo DS etc?

  4. Why do staff and students get different levels of access?

  5. How do I connect?

  6. Staff Desktop Service information:

    1. How do I know whether I have already enabled my wireless networking?

    2. Why does my computer connect to the wireless network by itself?

    3. I want to work offline, but my computer automatically connects to the wireless network.

  7. Why does Windows tell me I have connected to the wireless network when I was already connected?

  8. Is it secure?

  9. Is it safe?

  10. Can I edit files on a Network drive and / or print to a networked printer while connected via Wireless?

  11. What can I do if it doesn't work?

  12. How do I get help?

  13. How do I provide feedback?

  1. Can I connect in Halls of Residence?

    It is planned that the new Halls of Residence to be constructed on the Car Park 7 site will have wireless networking. All Hall of Residence bedrooms already have a conventional "wired" network connection via HallNet www.lboro.ac.uk/it/hallnet/.

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  2. Can I use the wireless networks at other Universities and Colleges?

    The JANET Roaming Service http://www.lboro.ac.uk/it/eduroam-us/index.html provides this capability. Please check the website for details of participating institutions, and ensure that you have complied with the visited institution's requirements before arriving there.

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  3. Can I use my VOIP phone, PSP, Nintendo DS etc.?

    Your device can use lboro if it supports the WPA/WPA2 Enterprise wireless networking standard. If it does not, but has a Web browser, you should be able to use lboro-web for Web browsing. We have provided technical information www.lboro.ac.uk/it/wireless/others.html which may be useful for setting up WPA/WPA2 Enterprise on these devices. We do not support WPA-PSK or WEP.

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  4. Why do staff and students get different levels of access?

    If you are a student, we provide you with the same level of access to the University network that you would get from the network connection in a Hall of Residence study bedroom.

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  5. How do I connect?

    Help on connecting is available at www.lboro.ac.uk/it/wireless/connecting.html.

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  6. Staff Desktop Service information:

    1. How do I know whether I have already enabled my wireless networking?

      If you see either of the following icons in your taskbar: Connected Icon or Disconnected Icon, then Wireless Networking has already been enabled. If you are unsure, you can run the Optional Application www.lboro.ac.uk/it/desktop/xp/optional.html again to make sure it is set up correctly.

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    2. Why does my computer connect to the wireless network by itself?

      This is normal. Windows will automatically connect to its preferred network wherever it is available. On the Staff Desktop Service this is the lboro network. If you are connected to the wireless network and the wired network at the same time, Windows will use the wired network as this is faster.

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    3. I want to work offline, but my computer automatically connects to the wireless network. What can I do?

      All supported laptops have a physical switch on the side or front which turns off the wireless antenna. Set this switch to the Off position if you need to work offline. If your laptop has Bluetooth please note that as this uses the same antenna, this will also be taken offline by the switch.

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  7. Why does Windows tell me I have connected to the wireless network when I was already connected?

    This is normal. Depending on your particular hardware and drivers your computer may intermittently switch between access points to get a stronger signal, or refresh its connection with the same access point.

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  8. Is it secure?

    We have two approaches to security:

    • When you use lboro, the communications between your device and the wireless network are protected using industry standard AES or TKIP encryption. This gives you the highest level of protection we are able to offer. We strongly recommend that you use lboro.

    • When you use lboro-web, the process of logging in to the network is protected, but the network itself does not use any encryption. This makes it easy to connect to, but gives you less protection. You are only able to use lboro-web for Web browsing, and should take care that you only provide user name and password information to "secure" websites. These are usually identifiable by https:// URLs.

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  9. Is it safe?

    Our Cisco wireless networking system complies with relevant national and international standards, such as IEC 60950-1 (electrical safety), UL 2043 (plenum rating), EN 300.328 and EN 300.893 (radio standards conformance), EN 301.489-1 and EN 301.489-17 (electromagnetic compatibility).

    See the JANET Factsheet at www.ja.net/documents/publications/factsheets/056-wireless-health-safety.pdf.

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  10. Can I edit files on a Network drive and / or print to a network printer while connected via Wireless?

    lboro Network.

    If you are using the lboro wireless network, you will have a similar service to a wired connection. You can then map network drives and connect to network printers. Note that for network drives we still strongly recommend that you do not open documents directly on the drive - copy the document to your own computer, edit it there, and then copy the edited document back again.

    Other networks.

    If you are using lboro-web or any other network than lboro, you will be able to use Web File Access http://wfa.lboro.ac.uk to access shared drives and printers. See Web File Access F.A.Q. ww.lboro.ac.uk/computing/off-campus/wfa-faq.html and Web File Access Movie www.lboro.ac.uk/it/off-campus/web-file-access.html. Web mail access is available on the New Staff Webmail system at https://staff-mail.lboro.ac.uk or the Old Staff Webmail system at https://staff-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/webmail/ or the Student Webmail system at https://student-webmail.lboro.ac.uk/webmail/ as appropriate.

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  11. What can I do if it doesn't work?

    Problems are typically due to wireless drivers being out of date, or conflicts with other programs.

    Suggestions:

    • Most laptops, and all supported Staff Desktop laptops have a physical switch on the side or front which turns off the wireless antenna. Set this switch to the On position to work online.

    • Check that you are in an area that has wireless coverage at www.lboro.ac.uk/it/wireless/coverage.html.

    • If you have changed your Loughborough University Active Directory password, you will need to update any locally cached copy of your password on your wireless device.

    • Driver updates are normally available from your vendor's web site.

    • Some laptops are shipped with the Intel PROSet Supplicant, which conflicts with the Lboro SecureW2 package and should be removed before this is installed.

    • Updating the Sony Vaio wireless driver may result in an error message from switcher.exe being displayed when the laptop starts up. This is because the Sony software to enable and disable WiFi/Bluetooth is not compatible with the new Sony driver. To fix this, uninstall the Wireless Switcher utility.

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  12. How do I get help?

    Please see our Getting Support web page at www.lboro.ac.uk/it/wireless/support.html.

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  13. How do I provide feedback?

    Please use our comments and feedback form at www.lboro.ac.uk/it/wireless/feedback.html.

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Getting Help

Tel: 01509 22 2320
IT.Services@lboro.ac.uk

IT Service Desk
Level 3 (top floor)
Haslegrave Building

9:00am to 5:30pm Monday to Thursday and 9:00am to 5:00pm on Friday.

You can also seek help at any time via our Getting Help section.