My wireless connection doesn't work well

We make a best effort attempt to make sure the WPI Wireless network is available to everyone in the WPI Community. However, due to the inherently unreliable nature of wireless, the signal quality and data speed will vary widely within a given location based on numerous factors including, but not limited to:

• the construction of the building
• any physical obstructions such as walls
• the total number of clients connected to the access point
• radio frequency noise level
• the particular wireless card in use on the client
• your distance to the access point

While we cannot bend the Laws of Physics, we do everything we can to tune the WPI Wireless network. If you discover a location where you are unable to communicate with the WPI Wireless network, you may contact helpdesk@wpi.edu. Please provide as much information as possible including:

• The building or outdoor space where you experienced the problem including the floor and room number
• Approximate time and date the problem occured
• Look around - are you in a busy location or is it just you?

The more information we have, the better we can respond.

My phone has wireless web... can I use that on the network?

There are two different types of wireless data access that are typically found on phones. The first is data access that uses the same radio component as the voice calls. This includes service such as EVDO, 3G/4G and LTA. These services are managed by your cell phone provider.

Some other phones do include a WiFi compatible radio, which may be compatible with the WPI wireless network. The device must support certificate based authentication, and either WPA or WPA2 encryption. While there is no prohibition against using such devices, due to the wide range of different options we are unable to provide any advice or support on purchasing or configuration.

Problematic Configurations

Some configurations work better than others when using the WPI Wireless Network. Below is a list of problem configurations and recommendations.

OS Name	Web Browser	Notes
Windows 7	"Tile" or Metro version of Internet Explorer	RECOMMENDATION: Use the desktop version of Internet Explorer when setting up WiFi
Windows 7	Safari	Automated setup unavailable because Java does not work with Safari on Windows; RECOMMENDATION: Use Internet Explorer to setup Wi-Fi
Windows 8	Safari	Automated setup unavailable because Java does not work with Safari on Windows; RECOMMENDATION: Use Internet Explorer to setup Wi-Fi
OS/X	Firefox	Leads to manual setup ; RECOMMENDATION: Install Java to use automated setup
OS/X	Chrome	Automated setup unavailable because Java will not work on Chrome ; Chrome is 32bit and OS X is 64bit; RECOMMENDATION: Use Safari to setup WiFi
OS/X	Safari	Leads to manual setup ; RECOMMENDATION: Install Java to use automated setup
Any OS	Chrome with AdBlock extension	When doing automatic wireless setup, the web browser does not automatically redirect to http://wpi-wireless-setup.wpi.edu/. RECOMMENDATION: either disable AdBlock as you setup wireless OR manually visit http://wpi-wireless-setup.wpi.edu/

Problematic Devices

While we do not place any particular restrictions on which device may connect to the wireless network (beyond those imposed by the AUP), some devices are known to be incompatible. Typically this is because the device does not support the WPA Enterprise authentication required.

Device	Status	Notes
Google Chromecast	Will not work	These devices do not support the required enterprise wireless authentication, and Google appears to have no plans to add it.
Barnes and Noble Nook (all)	Will not work.	While the underlying Android operating system is capable of supporting the security used by the WPI-Wireless network, this support was removed by Barnes and Noble before the device was shipped.
Windows Mobile 5 Phones	Unlikely to work.	Most cannot import the certificates, and those that can do not properly support the high level of encryption.
Windows Mobile 6 Phones	Varies.	Even on phones that can import the certificates properly, many still have buggy encryption drivers that will not work reliably.
Windows Mobile 7 Phones	Will not work.	No support for certificate authentication.
Nintendo Wii	Will not work.	No support for WPA Enterprise. The USB wired Ethernet adapter will work instead.
Windows RT	Requires Manual Setup	Not supported by CloudPath. Requires manual setup.
Non-English versions of Windows Vista, 7 and 8	Varies	Several incidents have been reports of a CAB Extract error. Other reports of "360 Internet" interfering with CloudPath. In general, manual setup should work.
BlackBerry devices (all versions)	Unlikely to work	In testing, we were unable to reliably install the wireless certificates required to connect to WPI-Wireless. To this end, we are unable to support these devices.
Wireless Printers	Unlikely to work	While there are a wide range of wireless printers available on the market, the vast majority of them lack support for WPA Enterprise. In addition, configuring your machine to connect directly to the printer via wireless has been observed to cause problems reliably connecting to the WPI wireless network.