On Monday, August 21, Fordham IT flipped the switch on a new and improved WiFi network.
Elizabeth Cornell, Ph.D., director of IT Communications, said the upgrade, which is the first significant one since campus-wide WiFi was installed around 2002, will improve both accessibility and usability.
The most obvious change will be a splitting of access to the network, into “Fordham-P,” which is short for Fordham Public and “Fordham-S,” which is short for Fordham Secure. Members of the Fordham community are free to log onto either network, while guests will have access to the Fordham-P network. All access to these networks is initiated through Connect-Fordham-WiFi.
In September, users who log onto the Fordham S network will notice an improvement in speed as well, as they will have a dedicated 3Gbps (Gigabits per second) connection, a 40 percent percent improvement over the previous network. Guests who log onto the Fordham P network will have a 2Gbps connection.
To log onto Fordham-S, Cornell said that participants must agree to a one-time download and installation of an agent (policy key) that scans their device to ensure the operating system and antivirus are up to date. She noted that Bitdefender antivirus is available at no cost to all Fordham faculty, staff, and students, and the agent does not collect any personal information stored on the device.
Another new feature of the network is that users will also be able stay connected even if they leave a building or travel to a different campus. Guests will likewise be able to stay connected, provided they agree to an Acceptable Use Policy daily, as needed.
“People are getting a choice, whereas before you really didn’t have a choice,” Cornell said. “We think this kind of choice will really make the network much more useful for the Fordham community.”
For more information, visit fordham.edu/wireless.
