Wireless to Reach All Rooms

Students will be able to surf the web or check e-mail in their beds, bathrooms or anywhere else in their dorms by next fall under a College plan to extend wireless access through all undergraduate living space.

Over the summer Harvard completed its project to install wireless access points throughout House and dormitory common areas in the first phase of its Wireless Network Access Project.

“The second phase, which will extend access into all living space in those buildings, is scheduled to be completed by next summer,” Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 wrote in a College-wide e-mail last week.

Director of Residential Computing Kevin S. Davis ’98, also a Crimson editor, said he is excited about Gross’ commitment to full wireless access.

“Until this recent announcement, we hadn’t really had the go-ahead from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences to put wireless in all living spaces,” Davis said. “This is something we are all happy came to fruition.”

Davis said that because of improved overall encryption services and the availability of Virtual Private Networks, the wireless network should not create any additional security concerns.

Davis and Director of Harvard Arts and Sciences Computer Services Frank Steen did warn that students should not attempt to install their own wireless devices in Harvard living spaces, citing potential security problems.

“With the way that wireless works we really have to be the ones who do it centrally,” Steen said. “It would be a very difficult situation if students tried to do it on their own.”

Steen said that private access points might be accessible by non-Harvard affiliates. He added that while an exact time-line for the wireless installation has not been drafted yet, the access points will be set-up progressively over the next year.

“We will do it House by House and several at a time, but we won’t be able to do it all at once,” Steen said.

Wi-Fi access points are currently being tested in Currier House and Leverett House, as well as two Freshman dormitories.

Steen said that every effort will be made to install the access points in hallways rather than rooms so as not to disrupt students during repairs. He said he is unsure how much the project will cost.

According to Davis, between 90 and 95 percent of students now arrive on campus with laptops, creating high demand for wireless. He said ethernet jacks will remain active in all rooms.

—Staff writer Evan M. Vittor can be reached at evittor@fas.harvard.edu