Over the last few months the ResNet team have been working with A2Dominion and cabling contractors on a plan to install ResNet Wireless in Woodland Court.  Starting on Thursday 8th December our contractors will be on-site installing cabling
and 21 Wireless Access Points to flat hallways - access should not be required to your room so the disruption should be minimal.

We do not have a completion date but hope the installation will be completed before Christmas 2011.

Adding wireless to Woodland Court will increase Residential wireless coverage from 75% to just over 80%

For more information on ResNet Wireless please visit <http://www.resnet.bristol.ac.uk/wireless>

This post will be updated with any useful information as and when we have some.

Update 20-12-2011
The cabling contractor has now completed their installation. We are waiting for the switches to be configured so we'll update this post as soon as we have more info.

Update 21-12-2011
The wireless should now be alive and ready to use. Connect to the ResNet-Setup network and open your web browser. Go to http://go.resnet.bris.ac.uk to activate your ResNet Wireless connection.

Merry Christmas to everyone at Woodland Court!

Over the last few months the ResNet team have been working with A2Dominion and cabling contractors on a plan to install ResNet Wireless in Deans Court.  Starting on Friday 18th November our contractors will be on-site installing cabling
and 30 Wireless Access Points to flat hallways - access should not be required to your room so the disruption should be minimal.

We do not have a completion date but hope the installation will be completed before the end of the term (16th December 2011).

Adding wireless to Deans Court will increase Residential wireless coverage from 68% to just over 75%

For more information on ResNet Wireless please visit <http://www.resnet.bristol.ac.uk/wireless>

This post will be updated with any useful information as and when we have some.

 Update 09-12-2011
All cables have been installed but only some have been terminated. Swicthes are installed. We are a waiting for completion of cable termination which we expect to be next week. Looks like we are on target for completion by the end of this term

 Update 20-12-2011
The installation of Wireless ResNet was completed late last week and 28 of the 30 access points are now up and we've seen over 60 people using them already. We are looking into fixing the two that have never come alive either today or tomorrow. We hope you enjoy using Wireless ResNet.

MyResNet

MyResNet is a control panel to manage your ResNet connection. With MyResNet you can transfer your connection if you move rooms or get a new computer, check your usage, print receipts, connect a wireless console, and buy top-ups for your connection, such as an upgrade to ResNet Max or additional transfer allowance.

Go to http://my.resnet.bristol.ac.uk to try it out!

AskIT - community IT support

AskIT! is a new way to get help with ResNet, wireless, and your own IT equipment. AskIT is particularly suitable for less urgent or more specialist problems. If your ResNet connection doesn't work please give us a ring, but if you can't get email on your mobile try AskIT. AskIT is a community support site, so you can contribute your own expertise and help other people who own the same equipment as you.

To try AskIT go to askit.bris.ac.uk

MyMobileBristol - campus info on your mobile phone

MyMobileBristol is a mobile webapp for the University. It includes info useful on the move, such as maps of the campus, locations of wireless hotspots, and live bus departure info for the whole city. It is designed for recent smartphones such as the iPhone and Android devices.

To try MyMobileBristol go to m.bristol.ac.uk on your mobile.

After an unexpected initial delay we are now pleased to announce that ResNet wireless at Wills Hall is now fully functional.  To setup your wireless devices please connect to the ResNet-Setup wireless signal, open a web browser, and follow the on-screen instructions.

We are still waiting for the cabling contractor to finish at Churchill Hall but we expect to have this fully functional before the end of Freshers week.

Well, it's 3:30pm on the Monday of Freshers' week and we have 4100 customers connected to the ResNet service which is about 95% of all people with a valid subscription.  This is 17 hours quicker than last year which is really great.  Hopefully people have found connecting easier because of this year's new wireless activation system.  Wireless ResNet has over 1400 distinct customers connected and wired ResNet has over 2600.

Our team are still taking lots of calls but the main problem seems to be passwords, which we can't deal with.  If you cannot remember your password (or username) then please visit the Service Desk in the Computer Centre with photo ID.

ResNet is now live for 2011!

If you are a new student arriving in Bristol everything will be ready for you to get online when you arrive.

Connection instructions for ResNet are either waiting for you in your room or available from your Senior Resident / Hall Office.The connection instructions cover both the ResNet Wired and the ResNet Wireless service (available in 70% of student bedrooms) Just follow the instructions for the connection method you want to use!

It helps if you can pay online before you get here, but if you can't don't worry - you can still connect immediately with a seven day free trial.

It's easy to connect, but if you need help give our special ResNet start of term hotline a ring - 0117 928 9001, or 89001 free internal call from your room. We'll be glad to help.

Welcome to Bristol!

While we already compare favourably with commercial broadband providers (on price, speed and bandwidth quotas) there's always room for improvement - so we're rethinking how much bandwidth we give you on ResNet.

Making your usage quota easier to understand

Currently you have two bandwidth quotas, one for off-peak and one for on-peak times of day.  Going over either quota lands you in a slow network for the rest of the week - at all times of day. This is confusing, and terribly inconvenient if you want to skype your friends back home during peak hours...

So, we're getting rid of peak-time!

We've combined the on and off peak quotas to give you a single quota of 48GB per week (For ResNet Standard) or 81GB per week (For ResNet Max) - no more worrying what time it is!

We've been trialling this change since 23rd May and it's been going pretty well so far.  The My ResNet control panel, and the Bandwidth Gadgets don't fully know about the change yet, so your on-peak usage is being reported as zero.  If the trial continues to work out ok, we'll have to see about fixing that!

If 81GB per week isn't enough for you, you can still buy extra chunks of quota through My ResNet.

Making your connection even faster!

Not content with making things easier, we're making them faster too!

Starting Monday 13th, we're going to increase the speed of ResNet wired connections to 50Mbps symmetric - That's 50Mbps download speed, and 50Mbps upload speed.  Once we've made that change, ResNet connections will be faster than BT Infinity Broadband (which gives you 40Mbps download speed, and 10Mbps upload)

Why is this awesome?  (Apart from it being obvious that faster is better!)

Well it means you can take full advantage of cloud based storage/backup solutions such as iCloud, Windows Live SkyDrive or Ubuntu One. It makes uploading photos or video to facebook/vimeo/flickr/youtube super quick, but most importantly - whatever cool new internet functionality is coming round the corner, we want your ResNet connection to be ready to handle it.

At this stage, we're not making any changes to the speed of the wireless network.  We can make it a bit faster than it is at the moment, but we can't make it quite as fast as the wired network.  So to take full advantage of the speed boost you'll need to use your wired connection.

"With great power comes great responsibility" - Spiderman

Once your connection is faster than a very fast thing going downhill on rollerskates - it does mean that it's easier to use up all your bandwidth quota.  We've done some sums and we think a bittorrent client serving up something popular (like an Ubuntu Linux DVD image) left unchecked could rip through the ResNet Max weekly limit in under 4 hours - on upload traffic alone!

If you've got any filesharing software on your computer, you might want to limit how much it can upload to the internet.  Most programs allow you to specify a maximum upload speed - we suggest setting this as low as you can get away with!

Not-that-small-really smallprint: All the features mentioned above are being trialled, we reserve the right to end the trial at any time if things start to melt.  We'll make a decision about what next years network speeds look like based on the results of the trial, so the above features may or may not be available for the 2011-2012 academic year.

Oh, and they apply to ResNet only.  The VisitorNet service got an 8 fold increase about a month ago but that's as far as we can push that for the moment.

Questions?

If you've got any questions or comments about the trials mentioned above, hit the comments below!

This is the fourth ResNet newsletter of the year sent to ResNet subscribers.

Jobs With ResNet from September 2010
Each year a large number of students join the team to help run ResNet and the Student Laptop Clinic. We are now recruiting for technical positions for the 2011/12 academic year.

A job with ResNet offers competitive pay (£11.51 per hour) and excellent experience while working with and helping other Bristol students. It can be hard work but is very enjoyable, a chance to develop your skills, and great experience for future employers.

Jobs start in September and continue during term time for the rest of the 2011/12 year.

The closing date for applications is 10am, Monday 13th June. For more details or to apply please see: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/is/computing/advice/homeusers/resnet/about/behindscene/vacancies11.html

Leaving halls? Get broadband in private accommodation

If you're moving into private accommodation next year you'll want to sort out an Internet connection. Unfortunately you can't get ResNet, but we have a guide to help you choose a broadband provider: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/is/computing/advice/homeusers/broadband/

Important maintenance work on the power supply to the Stoke Bishop area will be taking place on the 7th and 8th April 2011 between 8am and 4pm.

This will affect building power, ResNet, Wireless (all wireless, including ResNet & eduroam services), Admin network and telephone connectivity throughout Thursday 7th and Friday the 8th.

Your hall office should be able to answer any further queries that you may have.

7th April 2011

The following locations will have no power, network (ResNet, Wireless, Admin Network) or telephones:

• University Hall
• Durdham Hall
• Haitt Baker
• Wills Hall (Including The Holmes)
• The Downs Workshop
• The Grounds and Gardens offices etc

The following locations will have power, but no network (ResNet, Wireless, Admin Network) or telephone connectivity:

• Churchill Hall
• Badock Hall

8th April 2011

The following locations will have no power or network (ResNet, Wireless, Admin Network).  The phones should stay up.

• Badock Hall
• Churchill Hall

This is the third ResNet newsletter of the year, also sent by email to ResNet subscribers.

Using a router to connect more than one device to ResNet

If you want to use more than one device with your ResNet connection, and you're in a hall covered by ResNet Wireless, it's probably easiest to use that.  For more information about ResNet Wireless, see the ResNet Wireless pages.

If your hall doesn't have ResNet Wireless, then you'll need to get a "broadband router" if you want to do this.  There are hundreds of models available, not all of them are suitable for use on ResNet. It can be really quite confusing trying to pick one out!

If you're buying it from a shop such as PC World, ask for a router which is suitable for use on Virginmedia Cable Broadband.  If you're buying online, look for phrases such as "cable broadband router" or "ethernet router".  Avoid devices which say "ADSL" or which don't mention the word "router" at all - as they're unlikely to work.

If you've got a router which works on ResNet, or know someone who has - it'd be great if you could mention the model number on this AskIT thread: http://askit.bris.ac.uk/uob/topics/connecting_more_than_one_device_to_resnet_which_routers_work_on_resnet

New email and calendar service: come and see the options

Following feedback from staff and students, the University is planning to replace the current email and calendar systems (Mulberry, Squirrelmail and Oracle Calendar) with a new, integrated email and calendar service.

Information Services are holding an open meeting at 2pm on Wednesday 9th February in the Tyndall Lecture Theatre, Physics Building (on Tyndall Avenue) Representatives from Microsoft and Google will be there demonstrating "Google Apps for Education" and "Microsoft Live@Edu."

Everyone is welcome, there is no need to book in advance. For more information, please see http://www.bristol.ac.uk/new-email

Free antivirus software!

Has your antivirus software run out? It's essential to have anti-virus to protect your computer, but normally when you buy antivirus software it expires and stops updating after 12 months.

Luckily there is no need to pay for antivirus software. Microsoft Security Essentials is a good anti-virus package, and even better it's free! Download a copy from http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/

ResNet bandwidth widgets revisited

Most students don't need to worry about how much they upload and download on ResNet, as the weekly usage allowances in ResNet Standard & Max cover most people easily. We do have some very heavy users - if that sounds like you try the ResNet bandwidth widgets.

When we first mentioned them back in October, there were one or two problems with the Windows version.  If you tried it back then but couldn't get it to work - have another go!

We've got official widgets for the Windows sidebar, OS X dashboard, and the web. We've also got a public API and some great widgets contributed by students, including apps for Android phones and iOS devices (iPhone/iPad/iPod touch)

Go to toys.resnet.bris.ac.uk to try them out.