So I was asked a question today that comes up a lot, and came up a lot during welcome day. It's regarding internet in res, and here is a question that a nice MI member asked:

Do the residence have wireless internet? Because I thought they did not, but then I was told that they did; leaving me a bit confused. If they don't have wireless, do I need to have something like a modem or something? Sorry if this is a stupid question. Thanks for your time.

My response:

No question is a stupid question, especially on MacInsiders

A lot of people ask this question, and the answer is that Res do not have wireless internet. They only have hardwired internet. You plug your PC into the wall to get internet. Each room comes with a cable (one per person in the room) so you don't need to buy anything, and the internet is guaranteed to work. There is tech support on campus you can phone to get help.

The only way you can get wireless in res is if somebody brings their own wireless router and plugs it in their room... giving wireless to people nearby. If you really want wireless (eg. to sit on your bed without dangling cord) then you can bring a wireless router (cost about $60-80) and plug it into the cable from the wall.

is there enough cables for the number of people in the room? i'm in a triple so will there be 3 cables?

so, i would be able to bring my wireless router from home and then hook it up from there?

if so i'm totally down with that, and i'm putting a password on it so no one can slow down ma internet!

Not trying to be overly contradictory, but - unless something has changed in the past 2 years, no one is supplied with a cable, but everyone has an ethernet jack to plug a cable into. In my experience, you always needed to bring your own cable from home, or buy one from the bookstore or from the MacOnline people when you move in. Maybe someone who lived in rez last year can say if there's been a change in policy, because it's a pretty big one if it is...

As for wireless routers, try one if you like, but you better know how to set it up correctly since MacOnline doesn't support them and likely won't help you if you run into trouble with it.

I had a cable when I moved in, thus why I said yes...

Perhaps the girls that lived there before forgot it?

It's possible someone forgot it. I never received one for my 4 years there, and all the MacOnline literature said to bring your own. They sell them at the MacOnline table where you pick up your telecom package because so many people forget them, and I've directed numerous students to places to go to to get them after the table closed.

If you were in a bunk and loft room, then they usually have a hub attached to one of the wall jacks since there aren't enough jacks otherwise, and that would have a cable attached, but you can't use it for your own computer since it needs to connect the hub with the network.

Originally Posted by Chris

is there enough cables for the number of people in the room? i'm in a triple so will there be 3 cables?

There should be one cable for every bed in the room... so 3 beds.. 3 cables. 2 beds.. 2 cables

Incoming students will be supplied with a cable when they move in so there's no worry about not having enough cables.

Also, my friend lived in the basement of Bates last year and he was able to pick up wireless internet. Not sure whether or not it was through Mac or through someone else's wireless router nearby. But regardless, try out your wireless once you move in, you might get lucky!

Interesting about the cables, that's a new thing then, especially if they're giving them out for free. I'll shoot an e-mail to the MacOnline people and try to verify that they are in fact doing that again this year.

As for the wireless in Bates, that was likely from someone's room, but there *is* supposed to be Mac-supplied wireless in the basement study rooms of Brandon and in the study rooms of Les Prince. There's a list of the covered areas here: http://www.mcmaster.ca/uts/network/w...lscoverage.htm

Yeah, in several of the residence booklets they've mailed out throughout the year, they told us to bring our own RJ-45 cable. Even the MacOnline data faq webpage implies that cables will not be provided. If they are going to give us one, great, but I'm bringing my own just in case.

Where exactly can I get one of these cables and how much does it cost??

Well, you can get them virtually anywhere you can get computer-related stuff (like FutureShop and Best Buy), but you'll be paying a huge price premium for them. Most people do exactly this simply because never venture beyond stores like that, so they think that $29.99 for a 10 foot ethernet cable is just how much they cost. If you don't want to pay the 1000% markup they slap on them, however, you have a few options, although they're usually less convenient.

It's hard to recommend specific stores since the places that sell cables at a reasonable price are usually not large chains and therefore would be local to a specific city, but in general more "discount" computer stores like TigerDirect or Summit Direct have better prices. The best deals come from actual electronic component stores, however (i.e., they sell the cables and parts needed to build electronics). One small chain in southern Ontario is called Sayal Electronics (http://www.sayal.com), although there are a few others, too (Forest City Surplus and CounterParts in London are great, too). At places like that you can probably get a 10 foot ethernet cable for $5-7. I see from your profile that you're in Cornwall, so unfortunately I don't have any specific suggestions.

I realize that most people won't go out of their way to do something like this, but if you're buying a lot of cables (like I often need to), these other types of places are awesome (especially if you ever need audio cables, Sayal is fantastic). It's just a big pet peeve of mine how much the large stores fleece their customers for cables when they're pretty much dirt cheap for the store to buy (don't even get me started on the USB cables they try to sell you when you buy a printer - here's a hint, they sell perfectly adequate ones at dollar stores, so don't pay $30 for one with fancier packaging).

Anyway, that was my rant, hope you find a cable :-p

That FAQ page appears to be out dated. I have asked, and have been told that you will be given a cable. They started doing this recently, I believe in the past cables were not given out for free.

But ya, I have been told that each room will be getting the internet cable, one for each occupant.

Yep a cable is given. It was given last year when i was in res and i don't think you have to return it.