All computers must have an Ethernet card and an Ethernet cable. Nearly all computers purchased within the last three years will come with an Ethernet card standard. Ethernet cards and cables can be purchased from the ResNet office with FlashCash only. You can also purchase these from the Student Center Bookstore and most consumer electronics stores, such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy, or OfficeMax. Please see our Hardware Requirements page for more detailed information.

To connect your computer to ResNet, all you need to do is connect an Ethernet cable from your computer to the Ethernet jack in the wall of your room. Once your computer is hooked up, just open up your web browser (such as Internet Explorer) and you will be asked to log into the network with your FlashLine ID and password. If your computer is running Windows, you will then be instructed to install the Cisco Clean Access software, which you will use to log in from then on. Please see our Connection Instructions page for more details.

No, there is no longer any need to register to use the ResNet network. The Cisco Clean Access software allows you to sign in with your FlashLine user name and password, eliminating the need to register your computer.

Once you have successfully connected your computer to the ResNet Wired Network in your room, open up your web browser (such as Internet Explorer). You should be automatically redirected to the Cisco Clean Access Welcome page. If you aren't, try opening an off-campus website, such as www.google.com. Once at the Welcome page, you should then log in with your FlashLine ID and password. You will then be directed to the Clean Access download and installation instructions page. If you have any problems installing the Clean Access Agent, please contact the ResNet Helpdesk.

FlashZone wireless access is available in the first floor lounge of most residence halls and other select areas on campus. In most student rooms within the residence halls, however, you will still need to connect using the wired Ethernet connection. To connect to FlashZone, you will need to first reset your password by going to the FlashWord website. After that, Mac and Windows Vista users simply connect to the “FLASHZONE-WPA” wireless network and log in with their FlashLine ID and password. Setup for Windows XP is more complicated. Please see our FlashZone Connection page for more details, or you may bring your computer with the ResNet office of assistance. Please note that the use of personal wired and wireless routers within the residence halls is prohibited.

You should be able to simply connect your game console to a free Ethernet port in your room and get online. If you do not have enough free ports in your room to connect both your computer and your game device, you will need to purchase an Ethernet switch. The use of wired and wireless routers is prohibited within the residence halls.

To use the FlashZone wireless network, you need to have the FlashZone VPN software installed on your machine. Since this software is not available for non-PC devices, you will not be able to access the wireless connection using a wireless game consoles, such as the PSP, Nintendo DS, or Wii. USB adapters, such as the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector, should work, but ResNet will be unable to provide any technical support for their use.

Wireless access is available in the following residence hall areas:

• Allerton: no wireless access is available
• Engleman: the second floor public living area
• Johnson and Stopher: the entire building (including student rooms)
• Twin Towers: the first floor Mozingo study lounge, between Beall and McDowell
• Tri-Towers: the Rotunda area
• Korb: the second floor study lounge
• Centennial Court: the third floor bridge lounge
• All other residence halls: the first floor study lounge

See the University's FlashZone Coverage Map for wireless access in other locations on campus.

Each student is allowed to have at most two computers connected to the Internet. If there are no unused Ethernet ports in your room, you will need to purchase an Ethernet switch which will allow you to connect multiple devices to the same wall port. Ethernet switches, such as the Netgear FS605 or the D-Link DES-1105, are very inexpensive and are quite simple to set up. Please note that the use of personal wired and wireless routers within the residence halls is prohibited.

If FlashZone wireless access is available in your area, the procedure is the same as using FlashZone within the residence halls, see our FlashZone Connection page. If no wireless access is available, you will need to contact the University Helpdesk at 330-672-HELPx5 or the academic department for the building you are in. Please note that ResNet only provides support for the network within the campus residence halls and Allerton apartments. All other network access is supported by the University Helpdesk or the academic departments.

A virus is any malicious program that can spread itself from one computer to another. Spyware and Adware are computer programs that are installed without a user’s knowledge that will often display advertisements and attempt to steal personal information. Viruses and spyware can cause serious issues with a computer’s stability and performance, and additionally can lead to data loss and even identity theft.

Antivirus and antispyware software is necessary to protect a computer from viruses and spyware. The University has purchased a site-license for McAfee’s VirusScan Enterprise software, allowing all Kent State students to use it at no cost. To ensure that its network is safe and secure from viruses, all students residing with the campus residence halls and running the Windows operating system are required to install this software. Please see our Virus Information page for detailed instructions.

By providing every user at Kent State University with a licensed copy of McAfee VirusScan Enterprise, the University can be sure that everyone has easy access to quality antivirus protection. Moreover, the version provided will never expire, and is licensed for use as long as the student attends Kent State University. This software is available to all KSU students, and will function regardless of whether the students lives on campus or not, or if the student is home during Summer or Winter break.

New viruses and other threats are being discovered constantly. If your antivirus software has not been updated recently, then you are vulnerable to attack. To protect your computer, please refer to our Update Instructions page to download and install the latest McAfee VirusScan definition files.

Spam, which is any unsolicited commercial email message, has become a major nuisance on the Internet. Over 75% of all email sent to the University’s email servers are now spam messages. As a service to its students, all email sent to a kent.edu address is filtered for spam, viruses, and other threats. For more information on the spam filtering program, please visit http://dept.kent.edu/canthespam/.

Although the University strives to provide open, unrestricted access to the Internet for its students, it has become necessary to block certain types of traffic for security reasons. All IRC and SMTP traffic is blocked to prevent the spread of viruses and spam. Certain other ports used exclusively by viruses and worms are also blocked, but this should not interfere with normal network usages. All other network activity is completely unrestricted.

The use of routers presents several security risks to you and to the ResNet network. An improperly connected router will act as a “rogue DHCP server”, conflicting with University-run servers and preventing large numbers of other students from accessing the Internet. Also, if your wireless router is not properly secured, any other computer within range will have direct access to your network connection, allowing them to spy on all of your Internet activity. Additionally, since a wireless router allows others to connect using your network connection, you can be held liable for the illicit activity of others. Finally, most routers are simply incompatible with the Cisco Clean Access system, and will be unable to connect to the network. If any problematic router activity is discovered within your room, your port will be immediately disabled, preventing all access to the Internet. Network access will not be restored until we can verify that you are no longer using a router within the residence halls.

The ResNet helpdesk is located in the Tri-Towers Rotunda, to the left of the area desk. We provide walk-in support to residence hall students Sunday through Thursday from noon to 9pm and on Friday from 9am to 5pm. We also provide phone support to students, at 330-672-9595x4, on Sunday from noon to 9pm, Monday through Thursday from 9am to 9pm, and on Friday from 9am to 5pm. Please see our Contact Information page for more details.

We are a department within Residence Services and our funding comes completely from student housing fees. If you are not living on campus then you are not paying for this service and we are therefore unable to provide you with support. Students who do not live on campus, however, can receive technical support through the main University Helpdesk, at 330-672-HELP.

Your FlashLine ID consists of all the characters in your Kent email address that come before “@kent.edu”. This is generally your first initial, last name, and a number, such as “jdoe123”. Your FlashLine ID is used to log in to many services on campus, including FlashLine, FlashMail, Cisco Clean Access, WebCT, FlashZone wireless, and more.

Please visit the FlashLine help page or call the University Helpdesk at 330-672-HELPx1.

No, unfortunately ResNet does not have the resources to provide in-room assistance for computer issues. In order to receive service, students must bring their computers to the ResNet helpdesk in the Tri-Towers Rotunda. Carts can be checked out from your area desk to help transport your computer. Additionally, the Campus Loop bus line regularly stops outside the Tri-Towers Rotunda

Although some people may not realize it, downloading copyrighted music and movies though file sharing programs, such as LimeWire, Ares, Kazaa, etc., is illegal. All University students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the University's official policy on the matter, as posted in the Illegal Download Notice page. There are, however many legal and inexpensive methods of obtaining music and videos on the Internet. The following are a few popular examples:

• Apple iTunes Store
• Ruckus
• eMusic
• Rhapsody
• Napster

Bandwidth is a limited resource on campus, and the University has therefore optimized its network for use with the web and web-based applications. To use certain bandwidth-intensive applications, it may be necessary to configure them to use fewer network resources. Specifically, by configuring your program to use no more than 128kbps in outgoing activity, you should experience a much more reliable connection.

All SMTP (outgoing email) traffic is blocked on campus to prevent the spread of spam. Before this block was put in place, so many spam messages were being sent from computers within the University’s network that it was in danger of being blacklisted by several large Internet providers. All Kent users need to use FlashLine, or another web-based email service, to send email while on campus.

Yes. The University has a Campus Agreement with Microsoft which allows students and staff to purchase Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Microsoft Windows XP, and other packages at a discounted rate. Please see the Microsoft Information page for more information.

Yes, several manufacturers, including Dell and Apple, provide educational discounts to University students. See our Hardware Requirements page for more information.

Yes, all students can create a personal web page on the personal.kent.edu server. Please visit the Helpdesk's instruction page for more information or call 330-672-HELP for assistance.