Residential Computing supports approximately 10,000 housed students in the form of network connections, roughly 350 public computers in 77 locations and live-in computer consultants in every residence. To supplement the wired infrastructure already provided within the residences, ResComp, in collaboration with ITSS, has launched a wireless pilot project to determine usage, technical requirements, cost and programmatic effectiveness of wireless networking. For more information on the project as well as answers to your frequently asked questions about wireless in general, visit http://rescomp.stanford.edu/wireless/.

If you do not have wireless access in your residence and would like to add it yourself, you can purchase and install your own wireless access point (WAP) to act as a bridge between the wired and wireless networks. For more information, visit:

http://rescomp.stanford.edu/wireless/recommendation.html

This summer a permanent and robust wireless infrastructure was added to all Row Houses that didn't already have it, which was virtually all of them. For the last three years, pre-configured and managed Wireless Access Points have been loaned to Row RCCs for temporary placement in locations of their choosing in the Fall, and collected in the Spring. While this allowed wireless access quickly and with no infrastructure changes, it was labor intensive, provided uneven coverage, and left the houses with nothing over the summer when filled with conference attendees (or being serviced by Housing in between).

Over the course of the summer, contractors went through the houses and installed wiring for, and mounted, a vast number of ceiling-height and otherwise unobtrusively placed WAPs. This project was managed by IT Services wiring staff, funded and scheduled by Student Housing, used WAPs provided and configured by IT Services networking, and was overseen by Residential Computing. Next on the agenda is to improve wireless coverage in houses that need it, over the course of this academic year.