Student Housing at NIACC:

Wireless Internet Connectivity Specifications and Recommendations

Wireless Internet connections are currently available to all rooms in the NIACC Residence Halls. Other connections on campus soon will include the Activity Center, the NIACC Library and parts of McAllister Hall (I.T. Department / Business Division area). In order to connect to the Internet the computer must have the appropriate wireless adapter.

TESTED AND RECOMMENDED WIRELESS ADAPTERS
While there is a wide range of wireless adapters available, the following adapters have been tested in this environment and have been shown to provide good to excellent network connectivity. This list should be used as a guide to provide you with immediate solutions to your networking needs. This is by no means the ONLY adapters that will work; other adapters may work with varying (even similar) degrees of success.

To simplify the installation process by eliminating the need to install additional internal hardware, all of our recommendations are for USB-based products. Similar internal products are available, but may result in additional installation and support requirements.

LinkSys WUSB11 – Wireless – B USB Network Adapter (Date tested: August 15, 2003)
LinkSys WUSB12 – Wireless Compact USB Adapter (Date tested: August 15, 2003)
3Com 3CRSHEW696 – OfficeConnect 11Mbps Wireless LAN USB Adapter (Date tested: August 15, 2003)

MINIMUM COMPUTER CONFIGURATION
Windows:
While the specifications varied slightly, the minimum recommendations outlined are developed to accommodate all of the adapters listed above. If other adapters are used, you should compare the vendor’s adapter specifications to the system the adapter will be installed on.

Windows 98se, Windows 2000, Windows XP (Home or Pro)
300 Mhz processor
64 MB RAM
10 MB free disk space

Macintosh:
Unfortunately, none of the tested adapters were able to be tested on the Macintosh platform. Any adapter purchases should compare the vendor’s adapter specifications to the Macintosh system the adapter will be installed on.

TECHNICAL SUPPORT
For assistance with the installation and/or configuration of your network card or connection in the residence halls, contact Paul Krukow (by voice at 4732 or email at PKrukow@hotmail.com) or Cole Wiegmann (by voice at 4734 or email at CWiegmann@hotmail.com).

North Iowa Area Community College, 500 College Drive, Mason City, IA 50401
641-423-1264 or 1-888-GO NIACC
www.niacc.edu