Troubleshooting your on-campus wireless networking connection

Note: If you are a student, faculty member, or staff member at Indiana University Bloomington or IUPUI, use the IU Secure network for wireless access. For help, see What is IU Secure? If you are visiting IU, instead see At IUB and IUPUI, what is a Network Access account, and how do I get one?

If you're having trouble with your on-campus wireless connection, see the appropriate section below.

On this page:

• Problems getting a wireless signal
• Problems accessing IU resources
• Problems with VPN

Problems getting a wireless signal

For information about wireless coverage areas at Indiana University Bloomington and IUPUI, see the list of UITS-supported wireless sites. If you cannot obtain an adequate wireless signal in an area that is supposed to have coverage, try verifying your laptop's wireless settings. By default, some operating systems use settings that are incorrect for the IU network. Unless you change these, you may not be able to connect to the wireless network. To check your settings in Windows XP:

1. From the Start menu, select Control Panel; alternatively, select Settings, and then Control Panel.
   
   
2. If the screen prompts you to pick a category, click Network and Internet Connections, and then Network Connections. If it doesn't, double-click Network Connections.
   
   
3. Right-click Wireless Network Connection and select Properties. Then, click the Wireless Networks tab.
   
   
4. At the bottom right of the window, click Advanced.
   
   
5. Make sure the only option selected is Access point (infrastructure) networks only. If other options are selected, deselect them.
   
   
6. Click Close, and then click OK.

Note: This wireless setting is not in Vista, which requires you to make manual connections to ad-hoc networks. You will not need to make any adjustments to wireless settings if you're using Vista's wireless services.

If you are still not seeing an IU Wireless signal, troubleshoot your wireless card; see At IU, how do I configure my Windows wireless network card?

Problems accessing IU resources

If you can access sites outside of IU (e.g., Google or Yahoo) but cannot connect to IU resources, you may be using the IU Wireless SSID without a VPN connection. Try using IU Secure instead; it offers secure access to IU resources with the use of VPN. See What is IU Secure?

Problems with VPN

Note: At Indiana University Bloomington and IUPUI, you can now access the wireless network without using VPN. See What is IU Secure?

If you cannot access IU Secure and want to make a VPN connection for use with the IU Wireless network, see:

• The basics of VPN at IU
• While attempting to connect to the IU VPN server, why do I get a message that the server is not responding or is unable to complete a connection?
• In Windows 2000, why does my VPN connection to IUB or IUPUI stop responding?

Note: The following information may also be helpful when establishing a VPN connection:

• Make sure you are connecting to the correct server. See the link for your operating system in The basics of VPN at IU.
• Clear your DNS cache. For help, see In Windows, how do I clear my DNS cache?
• Release and renew your IP number. For help, see In Windows, how do I release and renew my IP address?

Also see:

• At IU, how do I configure my Windows wireless network card?
• Wireless networking in IUB and IUPUI campus housing
• At IU, what factors might affect the quality of my wireless connection?
• At IU, where can I get a signal for wireless network access?