Ethernet Use

What is it?

The 'Ethernet' is the wired network in College that connects your computer directly to the Internet at high speed. Every student room in all of the College sites except Rippington Drive (where a wireless network is provided) has an Ethernet socket and its use is completely free for current St. Cross residents.

What is needed?

To use the College Ethernet students need their own computer equipped with an Ethernet card or adapter and an Ethernet cable. All new computers already have an Ethernet connector. Do not confuse a modem (telephone) connection with an Ethernet (broadband) socket; the Ethernet is wider and has eight connections within rather than 4 or 6 for modems. You will also need an Ethernet cable to link from the wall socket to your computer - these can be purchased in 0.5-20m lengths. Ethernet cards, adapters and cables can be bought from most computer stores. There are a number of shops in Oxford supplying Ethernet kit.

What are the restrictions?

The College network use is restricted by the University to bona fide academic purposes. To protect all the computers within College, a firewall and other filtering methods are in place to reduce the opportunities for viruses and hackers' attacks. Some applications that operate in a home environment (e.g. web cams, chat programs, internet telephones, games, etc.) may not operate within the College environment and some locations may be inaccessible.

The use of the Ethernet is also limited by the University Regulations and College Rules to traffic that is legal and consistent with the operation of the College. For example the exchange of any music, movies or (illegal) software across the network is strictly forbidden, as is the use of any wireless equipment. Anyone abusing the Ethernet will be disconnected.

Only current members of St. Cross who have a University Card are eligible to use the College Ethernet.

How do I get connected?

You need to sign the College IT rules AND also show your computer to one of the college computing officers. They will give it a health check and make sure it is free of security problems and it can be allowed on the network.

Once these two steps have been taken, the College IT Officers will register your MAC address with the relevant server. You do not need to enter an IP address within the computers network configuration as the College uses a dynamic IP allocation system (DHCP).

How do I get help?

If you have problems setting up your computer to use the Internet the College IT Assistants are your first port of call. Please note that whilst we will assist you to connect to the Ethernet and will help counter virus infections, we are not funded and thus unable to provide assistance with other problems internal to your computer. The IT Manager may be able to give advice on some of these issues, on a strict 'if-available' basis.

Please direct computer queries to the Student IT Assistants (itsupport@stx.ox.ac.uk).