TritonNet receives mixed reactions

At 4 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 29, UM-St. Louis switched its wireless network from "ANY" to TritonNet.

The switch took place one building at a time, and no wireless could be used in any building until that building was configured for TritonNet.

The switch was estimated to be completed in all buildings on campus by 7 a.m. on Oct 29.

The switch to TritonNet was met with mixed reactions from UM-St. Louis students.

"If the room you are in doesn't have Wi-Fi when you are downloading the program, you can't upload it. It wouldn't work for me in SSB," said Madiha Amjad, senior, finance, international business and accounting.

"The guy in IT told me that the bad thing about TritonNet is that if you don't constantly update your wireless, it won't work," she said.

"At first, it was really a pain to switch over," said Carlo Manaois, senior, political science, "but now, it's nice not to have to open a completely different application. I just turn on my computer and plug in my wireless card, and I'm connected. It's convenient.

"With the old way, I had to turn on my computer, plug in the wireless card, and wait for some random program to pop up that IT made you install. It's a lot smoother this way," he said.

Since a single sign-on ID is needed to login, TritonNet is considered to be a fairly secure wireless Internet source that is easy to install and use, according to the IT department.

"It was a lot easier to set up," said Trish Detwiler, sophomore, accounting. "When I downloaded wireless last time, I had to put in a lot of information, and this time, I didn't really have to put in anything. It's much easier to access Wi-Fi."

In order to use TritonNet, a user must have a laptop with 802.11b/ 802.11g Wireless Network Adapter, PDA with Pocket PC 2003, a Cisco VPN Client (provided by UM-St. Louis, and a MyGateway (SSO) ID.

Before accessing TritonNet, users must first configure their computer for wireless access and then download and install the Cisco VPN client for access to network storage such as the K drive.

Some of the buildings on North and South Campus where TritonNet can be accessed include: the Millennium Student Center, the Social Sciences and Business building, the Thomas Jefferson Library, the Ward E. Barnes Library and Oak and Seton Halls.

To register with the new wireless network, visit http://www.portal.umsl.edu. For users having trouble accessing TritonNet, contact the IT Help Desk at 314-516-6034.