Telephone, Network & Cable
Every WPI residence hall is networked to provide computer data, telephone, and cable television (CATV) access in each student bedroom. We are proud to be able to offer this comprehensive, state-of-the-art telecommunications system for on-campus students. The CATV service, data network connection, and on campus phone service are provided to each student as part of living on campus. There are additional fees for long distance service and for higher speed computer network service.
Residence Hall Telephone Service
When you arrive in August, you will find your room furnished with a personal telephone jack, activated and ready for you to use to make campus, local and long distance calls. Most prepaid calling cards and telephone credit cards may be used from the residence hall phones.
You will be expected to provide your own phone and cord. You will need a touch-tone phone to access all the features of the system; cordless phones are not recommended.
For additional information about the campus telephone service, please consult the Telecommunications Web site.
How Do I get a Telephone Number?
You will be notified of your telephone number when you arrive on campus. If you move during the year, you will be assigned a new number.
What are the Standard System Features?
The following servise are available on all residence hall room phones: Call transfer, Voice mail, Three-way conference call, Speed dial, Last number redial, Malicious call trace.
Contact Information
Telephone: +1-508-831-5210
Email: telecom@wpi.edu
On the Web: The Telecommunications Website
Residence Hall Networking
Why Should I Get Connected?
You can have a direct connection to the WPI campus network right in your room. This connection will give you high-speed access to campus computer facilities and the same Internet access as any system on campus.
Your computer will have access to the same PC software as computers in general access labs on campus. You may still wish to use the computers in these labs from time to time, but your residence network connection will be available to you any time, day or night. This optional connection lets you work in privacy and will save you from having to brave the weather or waste time looking for an idle lab computer.
A network connection will bring WPI courseware, electronic mail, the World Wide Web, USENET news, and the packages available on WPI's LAN, right to your own computer. To properly run these packages you will need a computer with sufficient speed and memory.
The residence network is secure from snooping. Any computer on that network can only see its own data.
Although you can have a web page on the WPI server, you are free to install a web server on your own system, with your own network address. Unlike many institutions, your Internet address is not randomly calculated each time you start your computer, so you have a consistent network name. You need a consistent name in order to offer a web site. WPI is serious about copyright violations, does not permit commercial use of the network, and requires that you stay within the bounds of the Acceptable Use Policy.
A 10BaseT Ethernet connection is activated and ready for your computer. For a fee, you can upgrade to a 100BaseT connection. Only a handful of systems on campus have 100BaseT, so you have the option of a faster connection to the servers than computers in the rest of the labs on campus.
If you own more than one computer system, you can run additional systems off a hub. There is a nominal fee for these additional Internet addresses.
Are Other Computer Platforms Supported?
Macintosh versions including Microsoft Office, Internet applications, utilities, and updates are available on the Novell. You may set up your PC to run a version of UNIX, possibly free implementations such as Linux or FreeBSD. Some residents run Sun, or other UNIX computers. If your system can run IP over UTP Ethernet, it should work.
How Does E-mail Work at WPI?
Your E-mail address will be in the following form: person@wpi.edu where person is the login name you choose for accessing the College Computer Center (CCC) UNIX systems. You select a login name when you first activate your UNIX account.
Your E-mail will be delivered to the campus E-mail hub. You can read your mail at any PC or CCC workstation on campus. As a resident network customer, you may advertise your E-mail address as person@hostname.res.wpi.net where person is your login ID and hostname is the name you choose for your own computer. Your mail will still go to the campus hub, unless you decide to run a SMTP client on your PC and turn your system into an Internet mail host.
If you already have a system that handles mail for a domain on the Internet, you can arrange to handle email for that domain on your resident system.
How Do I Get Connected?
You can order and configure your connection via the web. CCC has directions for installing networking on your PC. If you buy your PC from the Technical Computer Solutions (TCS3), they will set it up. CCC has negotiated with this local company to get competitive prices for WPI students, and they are on-call for service of campus systems.
Your computer must have a UTP Ethernet card. If you do not have one, TCS3 sells and installs network cards. If you choose to purchase your own card make sure it is a UTP (Unshielded Twisted pair) Ethernet card. If you choose a 10/100 card, you could take advantage of the 100BaseT speed, whereas a 10BaseT card would have to be replaced to use the higher speed.
The wiring in the residence halls is UTP Category 5.
The College Computer Center Helpdesk page provides more detailed information regarding the residential network and sign up information.
If you have questions, please contact the helpdesk@wpi.edu
Contact Information
Telephone: +1-508-831-5888
Email: helpdesk@wpi.edu
On the Web: The Helpdesk Website
Cable Television Services
Every bedroom and common living area in WPI's residence halls has been provided with an outlet for cable TV service. Cable television service is provided to students in the residence halls free of charge. The system is administered by the Academic Technology Center (ATC), which receives a cable signal from Worcester's local cable TV provider, Charter Communications, and filters out channels 11, 12, 38, and 39 so that they may be allocated for use here at WPI. The video bulletin board can be found on Channel 11. Channel 12 is reserved for special programming during the day, and at night, it is home to the SocComm Movie Channel. Channel 38 is currently used as an alternate source for people to listen to WWPI, WPI's radio station, and Channel 39 is reserved for faculty use.
Should you have problems with your cable reception on campus, please contact your RA, who will contact the ATC if necessary. Your RA can also provide you with a 6 foot strand of coaxial cable to hook up your cable ready TV to the campus TV network. If an alternate length is needed, the ATC will make custom length coaxial cables upon request. The fee for the cable is $2.00 plus $.10 per foot (e.g. a 10 foot cable would cost you $3.00).
Contact Information
Telephone: +1-508-831-5220
Email: wpic@wpi.edu
On the Web: The ATC Web site
Last modified: July 05, 2007 11:26:23