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JMan09 · Mar 23, 2007, 11:52 AM

On my college campus we have to use a VPN to connect wirelessly. So my question is there another way to connect my computer to the internet when the VPN goes down? And in one area that I know of there are LAN access points. Could I bring a LAN cable and still get to the network that way? Thanks in advance.

ghporter · Mar 23, 2007, 02:22 PM

The answer is "it depends." At my school, I have to have my wireless and ethernet cards' hardware addresses registered with IT in order to be able to connect either way. What's your school? Maybe I can poke around and see what's up.

JMan09 · Mar 23, 2007, 04:56 PM

oh ok. the school is Lamar University in Beaumont

ghporter · Mar 23, 2007, 09:54 PM

I can't find anything on their web site about LAN drops for students. I think you should contact the networking office on Monday and ask them.

How did the campus fare with Hurricane Rita? The last time I saw it was a LONG time ago.

JMan09 · Mar 24, 2007, 01:56 AM

Ok, well thanks for looking. The VPN was down Friday, so I went to the library to use the computers there. But I'll ask them about it Monday and maybe get a short LAN cord if I need to.

During hurricane Rita I was on a break from school, but I remember it wasn't too bad. They had the usual tree damage and water damage that I can remember. After they let people back in the city and area the schools were back up in about a week and I remember Lamar was up about 3 weeks are so after everyone was back in Beaumont.

ghporter · Mar 24, 2007, 08:17 AM

My alma mater is the University of Southern Mississippi at Long Beach. Note the "beach" part of the name; the campus is about 50 yards off the sand. Katrina kicked the snot out of that campus, but fortunately there wasn't much structural damage. I haven't been there in about 12 years now, but it's a lovely campus and it was sad that it got abused that way. But the enormous live oak in the front courtyard survived and seems to be doing fine now.

Here's what the tree looked like right after the storm:

Needless to say, the infrastructure there was pretty well wiped out. The point I was getting around to is that those VPN/wireless outages at Lamar may be beyond the school's control, so give 'em some slack. As long as they help you get the access you need, of course.