Getting Connected

There are four ways to get on the network at Rutgers. There's a separate section below for each of these.

1. If you are in a residence hall ("dorm") that is wired, the Residential Networking Project will help you connect to the network.
2. If you are in a Rutgers building that is wired, your department needs to arrange for you to get connected.
3. Some areas now support wireless networking.
4. An ISP, including Cable Modem and DSL; VPNs. Normally people use ISP's when they are far enough from Rutgers that calling our modems would be too expensive. Cable modems and DSL have the advantage of being a lot faster than a normal modem.

Email: Once you have connected to the network, you will probably want to use email. Please see Email at Rutgers.

All use of the Rutgers network is governed by the Rutgers Acceptable Use Policy. This, as well as other general policies, is available from the computing policies web page.

Wired Residence Halls

If you are in a residence hall ("dorm") that has been wired, the Residential Networking Project will help you connect. As you move in, you should get information giving you specific instructions for connection. The OIT help desk, 732-445-HELP, can help you with problems.

NOTE: In order to use the network, you must register your system using an online registration system, available through the Residential Networking Project web page. If you don't register your system, you may get no network service at all, or you may get inconsistent service (i.e. you can get to some locations, but some services at Rutgers won't work).

In order to use the residential network, your computer must have an Ethernet card. If you don't have one, you can get it from the Rutgers Computer Store. If this isn't convenient, Ethernet cards are carried by most large computer stores. Before you buy a card, please make sure you check the documentation for your type of computer on the Residential Networking Project web page. Certain brands of card do not work well at Rutgers. (Of course, the Rutgers Computer Store sells only brands that work at Rutgers.)

Wired Offices

If you are in a Rutgers building that is on the network, there should be someone in your department that knows the procedures for getting connected. Please talk to your departmental office.

There is a web page describing the procedures, Connecting to the Rutgers Network. However this document is intended for department staff, not individual users.

Most computers now come with appropriate software. There are instructions for setting up networking on current versions of Windows, Linux, and the Macintosh on the NBCS Documentation web page.

The help desk or departmental support group on your campus should able to provide assistance in setting up computers on the network.

Wireless Networking

Several areas at Rutgers now have wireless service. This includes public spaces such as student centers, but a number of departments have installed wireless service in their building.

Where service is intended for general users, you should find placards on the wall giving information on use of the service. You can find information about several of the major wireless projects at http://wireless.rutgers.edu.

Most projects intended for widespread use direct users to a web login screen, where they will need to login using their NetID and password. In some cases additional setup is needed. That should be described on the login screen.

If you are interested in getting your department or building setup for wireless, please contact your the OIT division on your campus. OIT can give you information that will help you do the setup. They can also contract to do a wireless implementation for you.

Be aware that there is a University wireless policy. This mandates that all access points be registered in a Rutgers access point registry. It also specifies requirements for security, access control, and for handling conflicts over channel assignments. These policies apply equally to access points installed by University staff and those installed by students in the residence halls.

ISP and Cable Modem Services

If you live too far from Rutgers, you may find that it is less expensive to use a commercial Internet Service Provider. A list of ISPs by area code is available.

This section also applies if you use a cable modem or DSL. These technologies allow considerably higher speeds than a modem. They are now available in most of New Jersey. To investigate using cable modems, talk to the company that supplies cable TV in your area. DSL is normally purchased through your telephone carrier, though some independent service providers are also available. DSL Reports has a section "Find Service" that will locate DSL and cable modem providers in your area. In some areas, Verizon is the only realistic DSL provider. Although their service has been getting better, reports are generally better from cable modem users than DSL users.

If you use an ISP or cable modem, you are going to run into three problems:

• If you want to read email from Rutgers, you may need to send mail through your ISP. Many ISPs allow customers to use their remote account's outgoing mail server (smtp.rutgers.edu, in our case), but some restrict access to the ISP's outgoing mail server only.
• Rutgers maintains a "firewall" between the Rutgers network and the Internet. The firewall will prevent certain network services from being usable outside Rutgers. This includes Windows file sharing and printing. Users who want to access these services from home will need to use a VPN.
• Certain information on Rutgers web servers is restricted to Rutgers users. This is particularly common for library databases for which the Rutgers Library must pay a fee. Users who want to access this information from home will need to use the Libraries Remote Access Browser Configuration.

The following sections describe how to deal with these issues.

NOTE: These restrictions do not apply to the Rutgers dialups. They apply to people who come in from a non-Rutgers service such as an ISP, cable modem or DSL.

Email using an ISP

If you use an ISP, you can still read mail from a Rutgers server. You can use a Rutgers email address when you send mail. However, you may need to send mail using the ISP's mail server.

This is a result of continuing growth in junk email ("spam"). One of the things spammers do to hide their identity is to "bounce" email off an innocent third party. To prevent this, we now require people using our mail server to "authenticate" (provide NetID and password). But in addition to this, some service providers are now forwarding mail only for their own users.

Your ISP's customer service department should be able to tell you the name of their mail server. (If they need more specific information, you may need to tell them you need their "SMTP server".) If you are using Netscape or Outlook please see the NBCS Documentation for your Operating System. There is also a general doucment on Setting up Email at Rutgers.

AOL will not give you the name of a mail server. AOL users should send email through smtp.rutgers.edu. (Technical note: Your mail will not actually go through that server. AOL traps all attempts to send mail and routes it through their own servers.)

VPNs: getting through the firewall; accessing restricted information

Certain people who access Rutgers from home are going to need to use a VPN ("virtual private network").

Rutgers has a "firewall" between the Rutgers network and the Internet. This device prevents certain network services from being accessible outside Rutgers. The purpose of the firewall is to improve security. There are a number of services which were really intended for use within a department. Examples are Windows file sharing and printing. While these are very useful services, they have a history of security problems. In order to reduce the number of security attacks on Rutgers systems, we are using a firewall to prevent access to these services from outside Rutgers.

However we understand that people at home may sometimes need to access these services. Thus we are supporting a technology called "Private Virtual Networks." These allow you to create a special kind of connection from your home system to Rutgers. Because setting up this connection requires you to login, you are permitted to access any service at Rutgers as long as you are connected to Rutgers through a VPN.

NOTE: If the only internal service you need is the library resources, we recommend using the Libraries Remote Access Browser Configuration.

Setting up a VPN is very similar to setting up a dialup connection.

You can setup a VPN in two ways: using VPN software that comes with your system, or using Cisco software that you can download from a Rutgers web site. While it may be slightly easier to use the software that comes with your system, the Cisco software will produce a more secure connection.

Here's a summary of support for VPN software for various system types:

• Windows: All versions since Windows 95 have VPN software with them. However the Cisco software is preferable.
• Linux: Cisco software is available. So is other software. Look for the "PPTP Client". However the Cisco software is preferable.
• Macintosh: Cisco software is available for OS X 10.1. In the near future a version that works with OS X 10.2 will be available. Tunnelbuilder (from www.efficient.com) is believed to work for OS 8 and 9, but I would get the trial copy and verify that it works before paying for it. While OS X 10.2 comes with VPN software, that software will not work with the Rutgers VPN.

Instructions are available at the Rutgers University VPN Access page.

Technical note: services permitted through the firewall

This section lists the specific services permitted through the firewall. All services with TCP or UDP port numbers below 1024 are prohibited, except those listed below. All port numbers about 1024 are allowed.

These are the only services below 1024 that are permitted:

	ftp		20/tcp
	ftp             21/tcp
	ssh             22/tcp
	ssh             22/udp
	telnet          23/tcp
	smtp            25/tcp
	domain          53/tcp
	domain          53/udp
	finger          79/tcp
	www             80/tcp
	www-alt		81/tcp
	kerberos        88/tcp
	kerberos        88/udp
	pop2            109/tcp
	pop3            110/tcp
	ident           113/tcp
	sftp            115/tcp
	nntp            119/tcp
	ntp		123/udp
	imap            143/tcp
	irc             194/tcp
	irc             194/udp
	imap3           220/tcp
        wx-idd		388/tcp
	ldap            389/tcp
	slp             427/tcp
	slp             427/udp
	https           443/tcp
        smtps           465/tcp
	isakmp          500/udp
	talk            517/udp
	ntalk           518/udp
	klogin          543/tcp
	kshell          544/tcp
	realserver	554/tcp
	realserver	554/udp
	nntps           563/tcp
	ldaps           636/tcp
	kerberos-adm    749/tcp
	kerberos        750/udp
	kerberos        750/tcp
	krb_prop        754/tcp
	krbupdate       760/tcp
	kpasswd         761/tcp
	ftps-data       989/tcp
	ftps            990/tcp
	imaps           993/tcp
	pop3s           995/tcp

Please direct all questions regarding NBCS services to help@nbcs.rutgers.edu
Please direct all questions regarding this website to webmaster@nbcs.rutgers.edu
Last updated: September 2, 2009, 4:06 pm

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