SFA’s Network
From the dorm rooms you should connect with a wire. To connect wirelessly use the following documents from SFA’s official website:
For Vista http://www.sfasu.edu/tsc/docs/SFAWirelessVista.pdf
For XP: http://www.sfasu.edu/tsc/docs/SFAWirelessXP.pdf
For Apple: http://www.sfasu.edu/tsc/docs/SFAWirelessMacOSX5.pdf
This guide will be enhanced with additional information in the future. For now, use the following link to find additional information:
http://www.sfasu.edu/tsc/ or call call extension 4357, or 936.468.4357 if you're off-campus.
Background on SFA’s Internet Connection:
SFA has a really great network within the campus with one major point of failure. In general you should have a positive experience using the network. The SFA network's greatest flaw is not because of the networking groups design. They have repeatedly asked for funding to cover the weak-link and it has been repeatedly turned down.
The weak-link in the SFA network is the lack of an additional service provider or “POP” on the Internet. Most networks of our size will have a secondary POP in-case the first one fails for some reason.
SFA’s situation is compounded by the fact that we are so far out in East Texas. The POP is located in Houston. This means that SFA’s Internet connectivity is dependent on a single connection that runs from Nacogdoches to Houston with no ability to re-route the connection if that line is cut.
From time to time this connection will get cut. The common scenario referenced is a farmer in his field with a tractor, cutting the fiber connection that runs from Nacogdoches to Houston. This isn’t always what happens, but it illustrated the problem pretty well.
Fixing it can take a long time. As much as several days.
When this occurs, the campus is essentially stranded and isolated from the outside world. The campus can’t reach the Internet and the Internet can’t reach the campus. You will know this has happened if you can reach http://www.sfasu.edu, MySFA or Blackboard from campus but can’t reach other Internet websites like Facebook.
Because of the dependence on one connection, SFA’s Internet connection can also experience temporary Internet only outages.
If you are having problems with the network, I recommend trying to determine if it is an Internet only problem or a more localized problem. To do this check sites that are “outside” like Google, Facebook or SurfinSteve.com and then check inside sites like http://www.sfasu.edu, MySFA and Blackboard.
If the inside sites work and the outside sites do not, then there is likely an Internet outage. In this case, there is NOTHING you can do to resolve the problem but:
1. Wait (Trust me, there are some really smart people trying to fix is as soon as possible)
2. Go off campus. Some great places offer Internet Access in Nacogdoches including:
Tabu
McDonalds across the street from campus
Java Jacks
Starbucks
Remember this one major gotcha though. While off campus, you won’t have access to “inside” resources like Blackboard or MySFA, so get what you need from them before leaving campus.
Computer Registration on Campus:
SFA’s network requires you to register your computer. This process is in place to prevent abuse of the network. Be very clear on this point. Once your computer is registered on the SFA network your actions can be tracked back to you. Using the SFA network to do anything illegal is a really bad idea.
One reason for SFA’s tight security is that there was a bad experience years ago. A student used the Internet to originate a threat against Bill Clinton. The Secret Service took the threat very seriously. The threat was traced back to the student who originated it and it was handled by the Secret Service. Since then, SFA has always wanted to make sure that they can track back any actions on the network to the person who did it.
They are rumored to have done so other times since, including when the record industry has taken legal action to prosecute people illegally downloading music from the Internet. Its not something the actively pursue, but they are ready in-case someone shows up with a warrant or court order.
The official wording for what will happen goes like this:
“Once an official infringement notice is received, the complaint resolution team initiates the take-down procedures. The person responsible on the alleged infringing materials is summoned. The dean or director for the area involved is also notified on the infringement. If the responsible party does not respond timely to the official summons, access to the University network is denied. “
Just know that they are very good at it and can find out what you do if they have a need to.
Part of the security is in the registration process. Registration is done when you first connect your computer to the network. To register you have to have an account. You shouldn’t ever let someone else use your account to connect to the SFA network unless you really trust them a lot. Like maybe your parents. Especially don’t let someone use your account if they should have an account.
If they register with your account, anything they do will be tracked back to you and you will be responsible for what they do. This will be the case for the rest of the semester, not just that one day. :-O
