Wireless Network Frequently Asked Questions
- What is Wireless Ethernet?
- What is a VPN?
- What equipment do you recommend?
- Are there any known causes of interference in the coverage area?
- Is there any known interference with other VPN clients?
- Are wireless radio frequencies dangerous?
- Can I use my mobile device to connect to the wireless network?
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What is Wireless Ethernet?
Wireless Ethernet (the technology known by the specification IEEE 802.11b) offers Ethernet speeds without the wires, with speeds similar to that of workstations hard wired to the UCLA campus backbone network.
Under 802.11b, devices communicate at a speed of 11 Mbps whenever possible. If signal strength or interference is disrupting data, the devices will drop back to 5.5 Mbps, then 2 Mbps and finally down to 1 Mbps. The service coverage is somewhat similar to the experience of cellular phone coverage, meaning that performance varies with the strength of the signal, and there are dead spots in the coverage area where there is no signal.
Users of this network will be able to access the wireless Ethernet network by authenticating to a virtual private networking (VPN) server with their BOL username and password.
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What is a VPN?
Given recent vulnerabilities found in the technology used to protect the information traveling over wireless Ethernet networks (technology known as Wired Equivalent Privacy, or WEP), and the propensity for wireless Ethernet traffic to be intercepted, technology known as VPN (virtual private networking) will be used to secure data traveling over the wireless Ethernet network.
VPN technology allows for a secure and encrypted tunnel to be created between the device using the wireless Ethernet network, and the UCLA Campus Backbone Network.
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What equipment do you recommend?
802.11b compliant equipment should work with the Wireless Access Points. We cannot provide technical support for cards other than the Cisco Aironet 350 PC Card, however the following cards have been tested to work with the wireless network:
- Cisco Aironet 350
- Apple Airport
- Proxim Orinoco Gold PC Card
- NETGEAR MA401NA 802.11b PC Card
- Linksys Wireless PC Card WPC 11
- 3COM OfficeConnect - Network adapter 3CRSHPW696
- Dell TrueMobile Wireless
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Are there any known causes of interference in the coverage area?
Yes, the heavy metal tables near Northern Lights, and the tables between Rolfe Hall and Campbell Hall can cause a degradation in the signal quality and strength when the antenna for the Cisco Aironet 350 card is located directly over the table. If you position your machine so that the antenna is off the edge of the table, your connection quality will improve substantially. You can also place a book or other thick item so that the antenna is raised and away from the surface of the table to improve your wireless connection.
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Is there any known interference with other VPN clients?
Yes. Specifically, the Cisco 3000 VPN client cannot coexist with a Cisco 5000 VPN client on the same machine. In order to use either of these clients, one or the other has to be installed. Having both 3000 and 5000 VPN clients installed will render both unusable until one is deleted. BOL offers the 3030 client for use with BOL VPN servers. This is a known issue for Cisco, and they are working on resolving this problem.
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Are wireless radio frequencies dangerous?
Although radio frequency (RF) energy is a form of radiation, the level of RF produced by the devices used in this pilot is extremely low. The devices used in this pilot comply with both IEEE and ANSI publications for Standards for Safety Levels with Respect to Human Exposure of RF equipment.
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Can I use my mobile device to connect to the wireless network?
The wireless network is accessible from mobile devices with either web browsing capabilities or built in VPN software. You can find instructions on how to configure your mobile device at: