Internet And Wifi

Internet And Wifi#

Internet Access#

Access to the Internet is included in your rent and there are no extra charges for using it. You may connect multiple devices to the College Wi-Fi network simultaneously e.g. phones, laptops and tablets.

The College has a multi-gigabit Internet connection that provides plenty of bandwidth. It is a shared resource available to all Staff and Members. The available bandwidth is not restricted to a specific amount per user but even at the busiest times, you can expect approximately 10 Mbps per user.

A shared resource means that the Internet connection is available 24/7 (other than during occasional service outages and shut-downs for maintenance) but you should not be selfish and use so much bandwidth that it deprives other Members. With considerate use, there is plenty of bandwidth available for everybody.

The busiest time for Internet use in the College is between 10pm and midnight on weekdays and $6 \mathrm{pm}-9 \mathrm{pm}$ at weekends. We kindly ask all Members to be considerate when using the Internet connection so as not to deprive others.

What you’re doing on the Internet also makes a big difference. Browsing webpages and sending emails uses very little bandwidth and won’t have much impact on other users. Downloading large files uses more bandwidth but applications like Skype and also movie streaming (Netflix and Amazon Prime) use a great deal more. A good rule of thumb is You shouldn’t make Zoom / Teams calls or stream TV and films for more than 3 hours a day. If you stream movies at a less busy time of day, there will be more bandwidth available.

Wi-Fi#

There is Wi-Fi coverage throughout Goodenough College. However; as the College was built over half a century before Wi-Fi existed, there are a few areas where the signal strength is not as strong. e.g. staircases and lifts. Wi-Fi Network Name (SSID): GoodNet Wi-Fi Password: square83

User Accounts#

A Windows account is required to use the PCs in the media rooms, a Square account is required to use the College intranet - The Square, a Papercut account is required for printing and a Debitrak account is used for buying food and drink in the Great Hall and Freddie’s.

Your Windows account is created automatically, shortly after you have checked-in at the College and the details will be emailed to you. This is an automated process and can take up to 72 hours. Once you have logged in to Windows and changed your password, you then need to setup your security questions in case you need to use the password reset feature in the future. You will then need to setup your accounts for Debitrak and Papercut. The order in which you do these things is important - See the box on Page 1 of this guide for details.

For security reasons, your Windows password will need to be changed every 90 days.

The Legacy Wired Network#

Prior to the installation of Wi-Fi in 2012, College bedrooms used wired connections to access the Internet. With Wi-Fi throughout the College, the wired network is now disconnected and can no longer be used.

If you have a device without Wi-Fi capabilities, you can enquire as to whether it is possible to reconnect a network socket in your room. Please email the IT Helpdesk with your request ithelpdesk@goodenough.ac.uk Please state your room number, the socket ID (printed on the socket) and the reasons for needing a wired connection.

It is forbidden to plug in any network equipment (including switches, Wi-Fi routers and extenders) into the sockets in your room because they damage our network!

Please be aware that because the wired network is old technology that is no longer maintained, the IT Department can’t guarantee that the sockets in your bedroom will work.

Acceptable Use#

By using Goodenough College’s Internet and IT Services, all users are agreeing to follow the Terms and Conditions of use and the Acceptable Use Policy. (See Terms and Conditions and Acceptable Use at the end of this Guide.)

IT Support#

The Goodenough College IT staff support the IT infrastructure for the Staff and the Members. They are able assist you with problems related to the College systems, e.g. Wi-Fi or printing issues.

They are not able to assist you with general computer problems and issues with your own devices as they are not insured to work on any equipment that does not belong to the College. The College IT Department is not able to lend equipment to Members.

IT Helpdesk Opening Hours#

The IT support staff are available Monday-Thursday 09:30-17:00 (16:30 on Fridays) Any issues that you raise outside of those hours will not be looked at until the following day and any issues that are reported after 16:30 on Friday, will not get processed until Monday morning.

In order to contact the IT Helpdesk, please email ithelpdesk@goodenough.ac.uk or call 1549.

Outside of office hours, it is best to talk to the Reception Team as they may be able to assist you before the IT Team are next at work.

Firewall#

The Goodenough College network is protected by a high-capacity firewall. The firewall allows the use of web browsers, email and a lot of common Internet applications. Xbox Live and Playstation Network also work through our firewall. The firewall does not block 99% of outgoing applications. If you need to access sites that are not available via the College network, we suggest accessing them from your University or getting a Dataplan for your smartphone.

The College IT Department cannot guarantee that the specific application or website you want to use will be available or fully-functional when accessed via the College Network and are in no way responsible or liable for any loss, inconvenience or other issues that this may cause.

The College IT department does not permit the use of certain applications including Bittorrent and Popcorn Time and nor does it allow network applications such as packetanalysers. Cryptocurrency mining on the College network is also forbidden.

Bittorrent#

Downloading any video, audio, software or other media for which you have not paid, by using a Bittorrent client, Popcorn Time or any other software that uses the bittorrent protocol is forbidden throughout Goodenough College. Any attempts to disguise the use of bittorrent based applications will be treated extremely seriously and will usually result in your expulsion from the College.

VPNs#

The use of anonymising VPNs is forbidden at Goodenough College. Using anonymising VPNs causes the College’s external IP address to gain a “bad reputation” with sites such as scamalytics.com. This information is used by a lot of online streaming services including the BBC, ITV and Amazon Prime Video. These companies then block streaming video for everybody at the College. (This happened multiple times during the Euro 2020 football championships.) Preventing the use of anonymising VPNs is the only solution to this problem. An exception can be made for Connection VPNs that are used to connect securely to computers at your University as these are not designed to hide your identity and do not cause any damage to the IP Address’s reputation. Please contact ithelpdesk@goodenough.ac.uk if you need to do this.

TV and Movie Streaming#

The College has a very large capacity Internet connection but it’s not infinite. Streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime use up huge amounts of the available bandwidth and if the entire population of Goodenough College were to try and simultaneously stream HD movies, the Internet connection would slow down to a crawl. The solution is to use some common sense and courtesy towards your fellow Members. Please don’t stream movies or TV for more than four hours a day and try not to stream during the busiest time in the evening if you can avoid it. Please do not stream in a higher resolution than necessary. You do not need to stream in 4 K if you are watching on your phone!

Media Rooms#

In order to use the Media Rooms, you will need a Windows account to allow you to login to the PCs. The account details will be emailed to you within 72 hours of your arrival. If you did not receive an email containing your account details, please contact ithelpdesk@goodenough.ac.uk.

If you wish to print or photocopy in the Media Rooms, you will not be able to do so until you have added some funds to the Papercut application on your Goodcard. The computers in the Media Rooms are all PCs running Windows 10 and Microsoft Office 2016. Once you have your username and password, you can login to them in the usual way.

Keeping Your Files Safe#

The data files containing your work are extremely important to you. It is your responsibility to look after your files and to keep them safe and secure. You must not store your files on the local or network hard drives of the PCs in the Media Rooms.

Goodenough College is neither responsible nor liable for any loss, damage or other corruption to any of your files.