IT networking at Lancaster - Skype etc

Ok from other threads i've gathered this:

There is a 100GB quota per month after which your Internet speeds are crippled.
Upload download speeds are around 100Mbps both ways.
Wireless on campus is not allowed due to security reasons but some students have hidden networks with security.

Hopefully someone who is actually at the uni can provide better information than from my 10 minutes of research xD

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Reply 2

kittyb99

11

Hey

Just finished my undergrad at Lancaster, so I can help you with your question :smile:

The internet was wired in my room in Cartmel College, and it was fast enough for Skype/YouTube etc. with no problems at all. Speed was roughly 70MB/s, if I remember correctly, thought it may well have improved. They were in the process of rolling out wifi to the rooms last year, so it sounds like they have (finally) finished. You get 100GB a month for your allowance, which includes all internet use, but unless you are streaming and downloading constantly, you will struggle to hit that. Printing is something different entirely- you simply top up your account and then print from a university computer, or your laptop, depending on which you prefer. I don't think that affects you quota in any serious way. I had a wireless printer, but technically making your own wireless was not allowed, so I plugged mine in. If there is now wireless, you should be able to get it to work without breaking any rules, but bring a cable just in case you come a cropper! All the rooms will have wired sockets for ethernet, given they have only just made the switch to wireless, so again, a back up cable might be a good plan, if they are not providing them for free this year.

Phew! Let me know if you need any more help (if that was indeed helpful)! Enjoy Lancaster- it will be the best three years of your life :biggrin:

Reply 3

Either I'm a special case (unlikely), or they've made a mistake, they changed the quota to 250GB a month now. I've just gone through setting up my IT account.

Here's their FAQ,
https://resnet.lancs.ac.uk/info/faq.html

Edit:

Saying that, if you go to https://resnet.lancs.ac.uk/quota.html, it says it's 100GB

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 4

Yay the IT registration is working for me again.

the CUA incase you want that too:
http://www.lancs.ac.uk/iss/governance/rules/

[EDIT]: Nope spoke too soon, can't get past the set password screen keep getting an internal error xD ill try again later.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 5

bb193

OP

13

Thanks to everyone for all your replies - they are very helpful.

I did think 100Gb might be enough - but we use 1-2Gb/day at home, so thought it might be tight. If it has gone up to 250Gb, that is even better :smile:

Loads of video streaming, Skyping etc.

We have a fist full of cables - networking and USB - I'll bring some along, just in case.

It is an MSci, so four years!! Yay :smile:

How are you going through and setting up your account now? How is that possible? Have they sent you some stuff to help, or are you just doing it? Don't you need them to send you a login or something?

Reply 6

CarlL

Original post by MMAGuy

Yay the IT registration is working for me again.

the CUA incase you want that too:
http://www.lancs.ac.uk/iss/governance/rules/

[EDIT]: Nope spoke too soon, can't get past the set password screen keep getting an internal error xD ill try again later.

You getting 'Password couldn't be changed due to restrictions: The specified network password is not correct'?

Reply 7

Original post by bb193

Thanks to everyone for all your replies - they are very helpful.

I did think 100Gb might be enough - but we use 1-2Gb/day at home, so thought it might be tight. If it has gone up to 250Gb, that is even better :smile:

Loads of video streaming, Skyping etc.

We have a fist full of cables - networking and USB - I'll bring some along, just in case.

It is an MSci, so four years!! Yay :smile:

How are you going through and setting up your account now? How is that possible? Have they sent you some stuff to help, or are you just doing it? Don't you need them to send you a login or something?

Even if you go over your quota, all that happens is you get a reduced speed but it's still good enough for Skype and browsing. Probably fine for games too.

You should get an email to pre-register and set up your IT account. The Lancster twitter said it could take up to Friday for everyone to get this email though.

Reply 8

DFarrell

Original post by CarlL

You getting 'Password couldn't be changed due to restrictions: The specified network password is not correct'?

I'm getting thatt

Reply 9

Original post by CarlL

You getting 'Password couldn't be changed due to restrictions: The specified network password is not correct'?

Yup exactly that. Ill try again in a few minutes.

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Reply 10

k9markiii

18

Original post by bb193

I just wanted to check if there are any issues/comments about connecting a standard windows (8) laptop to the uni network in rooms, and in particular using internet services?

There seems to be a lot of stuff about using the 'web cache', where pages are cached on the Uni network, rather than downloaded each time. I just wanted to make sure that this didn't cause any problems with uncachable 'live' services - they are still available, aren't they? As an example, does Skype work OK in the rooms, including to outside world? Streamed TV, Youtube etc? Or is the Web Cache just a proxy server for the Uni terminals - with student laptops not using that, and so having direct access to the internet?

There is also some mention of a quota or allowance. I'm not sure if this is for web services (eg download) or something else (eg file storage/printing etc)?

There are a few other similar questions that don't seem to be answered on the Lancaster ISS website, and any answers would be great:-

1.

They suggest that wifi will be available in rooms now - is this true?

2.

Anyone know what speed it is (up and down)? Is it G, N or something else? What does Speedtest say the speeds are?

3.

I have a small wireless Canon printer that I use via the wireless router at home. Does anyone know if I can I still use that wirelessly, using the college wireless network? Anyone had any success with anything similar? Or will I need to connect it directly to the laptop, using USB?

4.

Are there wired sockets in the rooms, if there are any problems with the wireless access? Anyone know if that is faster than the wireless access?

I guess most of this will have to be checked out at uni - but if anyone has any comments, or can point me to some more helpful documentation, I'd be very grateful.

I never had any problems. The only things you may find difficult are XBox live, torrenting and very specific stuff where you need an individual IP address but skype is fine. I found the speeds last year varied my best was about 80Mb down and 95 up my worst was about 30 each way (all these were from speedtest). If they say wifi is available in all rooms now then it probably is. Wasn't when I was there but they've had 12 weeks to sort that, mind you the speeds will be slower as it's no longer wired. I don't know about printers sorry. Most rooms will have wired sockets though I don't know whether you'll be able to use them and yes they will be a bit faster.

I'm going into my 3rd year now but was in Furness residences in 2011.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 11

kittyb99

11

Original post by bb193

T

It is an MSci, so four years!! Yay :smile:

In that case, you are extra lucky! :biggrin:

Reply 12

SpiggyTopes

Original post by Astonix

Either I'm a special case (unlikely), or they've made a mistake, they changed the quota to 250GB a month now. I've just gone through setting up my IT account.

Here's their FAQ,
https://resnet.lancs.ac.uk/info/faq.html

Edit:

Saying that, if you go to https://resnet.lancs.ac.uk/quota.html, it says it's 100GB

Did they e-mail you about setting up your I.T. account? I've had the pre-registration e-mail but no word on setting up my I.T. account.

Reply 13

Original post by SpiggyTopes

Did they e-mail you about setting up your I.T. account? I've had the pre-registration e-mail but no word on setting up my I.T. account.

Did you finish preregistration? Seems they might be having problems, I'm still getting the internal error issue when setting a password. :/

Googling the issue shows that a student had the same issue two years ago.

Ill try again in the morning but if it still doesn't work I'm going to call them up and ask.

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Reply 14

Jennejy

Original post by MMAGuy

Did you finish preregistration? Seems they might be having problems, I'm still getting the internal error issue when setting a password. :/

Googling the issue shows that a student had the same issue two years ago.

Ill try again in the morning but if it still doesn't work I'm going to call them up and ask.

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I've done the pre-registration stuff and was in the middle of setting up the various IT things (ResNet, etc.), when I had to restart my computer. After that I couldn't get back onto the website again - it wouldn't load at all :/

I guess I'll do the same and try again in the morning.

Reply 15

DFarrell

Even though I was getting the error earlier when trying to setup my IT Account it seems it did setup my username and password and I can view it all now :smile:

Reply 16

Original post by SpiggyTopes

Did they e-mail you about setting up your I.T. account? I've had the pre-registration e-mail but no word on setting up my I.T. account.

Yer. In total I got 4 emails. First 2 were for pre-registration, one with my email, another with my password. Once I did that, an hour later I got an email saying I need to set up an IT account. Fourth one I got saying I successfully set it up.

Reply 17

By the way, some Q&A with the ISS overlords themselves,
http://www.reddit.com/r/lancasteruni/comments/1kji4w/some_questions_for_our_evil_iss_overlords/

The quota is indeed going up to 250gb

Reply 18

SpiggyTopes