Wireless connectivity enables you to access the Internet and many HSU network resources from almost anywhere on campus using your laptop or other wireless-enabled device. Campus-wide deployment of wireless technology allows us to provide all HSU staff, faculty, and students with a broad level of access more efficiently and economically, so you can be productive wherever you are on campus.

HSU offers two flavors of wireless connectivity on campus:

• Regular Wireless is similar to the public wifi services at airports and coffee shops. Speed and performance are generally good, but you will not be able to access secure areas of the HSU wired network, such as departmental fileshares and wired printers, without the use of a VPN connection. Some applications may also not be accessible for security reasons.
• Secure Wireless provides all the benefits of the regular wireless service but with few restrictions (except in the case of certain types of guest account). By using secure wireless, staff, faculty, and graduate students can work productively anywhere on campus using personal or University-owned devices.

The following are general requirements for any personally-owned device connecting to an HSU campus wireless network. Additional requirements are detailed in the Regular Wireless and Secure Wireless sections of the ITS website.

HSU User Name and Password - If you have not activated your HSU account or do not know your HSU User Name and Password, go to the Account Center and follow the on-screen instructions.

Network Card - You must have an 802.11g compatible network card that supports WPA2 encryption (802.11n is recommended).

Network Names - HSUWireless is the broadcast ID for the regular wireless connection, and HSUWireless-Secure is the secure wireless network name. Your device should automatically detect HSUWireless. HSUWireless-Secure will only be detected after your device is configured for wireless connection.

Security Status - Your computer must be up-to-date with OS patches and you must have an approved antivirus product installed. Check out the Security Guidelines to learn more about wireless security on campus.

Note that, before you connect to the wireless network, your computer will be scanned to ensure it meets HSU wireless security requirements, and a small piece of software called a PolicyKey will be installed. The PolicyKey will let you know if your system ever falls out of compliance and tell you what you need to do to remediate the situation.To save time, you can download the PolicyKey software before you arrive on campus.

Learn more about HSU's network security requirements in the Security Guidelines.

See a complete list of acceptable antivirus software

Download Sophos Antivirus free of charge

More on HSU wireless best practices

If you have questions about HSU's network security policy, please contact the HSU Information Security Office at (707) 826-3815. 

You can access and download the PolicyKey software for pre-installation and/or to push out to HSU-owned machines in your department.

For HSUWireless-Secure access, the published instructions are intended for use with personally-owned devices. Slightly different instructions apply to HSU-owned equipment.

If you're responsible for creating Guest accounts, there are some specific options you need to be aware of. Please refer to the document Understanding Guest Accounts & Wireless Network Options.

You may be asked to open up a blocked port. Please take care when doing this to understand exactly what is happening and why this is necessary.

You might want to keep a copy of the SCUninstall utility for support use. This way you can easily uninstall the application if necessary.

Regular wireless network:

Your computer should automatically detect HSUWireless. To complete the process:

1. Connect to the HSUWireless network and open your browser.
2. Review the HSU Appropriate Use Policy and enter your HSU User Name and Password.
3. Click the link to accept the policy and download the PolicyKey. Follow the onscreen instructions to install the software.

Your computer will then be checked to ensure it meets the following requirements (as relevant to your operating system):

• Patched and updated operating system
• Up-to-date antivirus from the approved list
• Windows firewall enabled
• Windows is configured to notify you when new updates are ready to download and install
• No network address translation device present
• No peer-to-peer software running
• No proxy running

Computers need go through this process only once a semester. Mobile devices such as smartphones are not required to use the PolicyKey software but must be re-authorized daily for wireless access.

Secure wireless network:

The process of connecting to the HSUWireless-Secure network is different for each platform. The secure wireless network currently supports the following operating systems/devices:

• Windows XP
• Windows Vista & Windows 7
• Mac OS X 10.5
• Mac OS X 10.6
• Mac OS X 10.7
• Apple iOS devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch)
• Android smartphones
• Amazon Kindle

The network also supports Mac OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion). Detailed instructions will be posted shortly but in the meantime, 10.8 users should follow the directions for 10.7 and contact the Technology Help Desk with any issues.

Once your computer passes all the necessary security checks and other prerequisite software installations/configurations have been dealt with, you will be able to connect to either or both HSU wireless networks. If your device ever falls out of compliance with the requirements, you'll see e a screen advising you of the problem and how to fix it. For your convenience, we do permit you to connect to the HSU Technology Help Desk to log a ticket and to specific websites that will enable you to download updates to bring your system into compliance.

Please avoid sending unprotected personal information over HSU's wireless network. While HSU has adopted Gmail, which uses SSL encryption, as the campus standard email system, other email systems may not be so secure, and so unsecured SMTP (email) traffic is automatically blocked.

Also for security reasons, certain ports are disabled for regular wireless access and some guest accounts to protect confidential information stored on the network. If for any reason you need for a particular port to be enabled, please contact your local ITC (staff and faculty) or the Technology Help Desk (all).

• What's the difference between HSUWireless and HSUWireless-Secure?
• Do I have to install the PolicyKey?
• How do I uninstall the Safe Connect PolicyKey?
• When connecting to HSUWireless-Secure, why do I get an error message telling me that "VeriSign Class 3 Public Primary Certification Authority - G5" is not configured as a valid trust anchor for this profile."
• What does the PolicyKey actually do?
• What happens if I uninstall the PolicyKey?
• Does HSU offer encrypted wireless?
• What specific things do I need to do to stay compliant?
• Can I download updates while my system's quarantined?
• Which TCP/UDP ports are allowed on HSUWireless?

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Please familiarize yourself with your responsibilities as a user of HSU's wireless network and take care to follow these guidelines whenever you are connected to the network wirelessly.