Did you know if you’re 18, you can watch as much legal porn as you want in the Cal Poly dorm rooms using the residential network known as ResNet? If your computer gets a virus from watching too much porn, ResNet technicians will help (but if you get a virus from having unprotected intercourse in the dorms, ResNet can’t do anything for you).
ResNet is an always-on, high-speed Internet connection funded by student housing fees. It is designed for students in the dorms to connect to a privately-managed network known as an intranet. The main mission of ResNet is to provide students with Internet service for educational purposes.
Jeannie Abney, the ResNet coordinator and network analyst, said this isn’t always how they use it though.
“The network is provided for educational purposes,” Abney said. “However, students do use it mainly for pleasure.”
There are common problems with ResNet users using the network for pleasure rather than for educational purposes: When students browse the Internet, their computers can get viruses and the viruses can potentially spread through the shared network.
For Cal Poly, ResNet hasn’t had as many problems with viruses as it did in the past when the system’s firewall would go down, said Abney.
To reduce the amount of viruses, users of ResNet are provided with virus protection. Cal Poly’s ResNet has Symantec Endpoint protection for Microsoft computers and Symantec Antivirus for Apple computers.
Besides viruses, another common problem is student infringement on copyrights — if a complaint is made by a company about a copyright violation by a student, ResNet shuts down the student’s Internet service until the issue is solved, said Abney.
Students’ most common illegal downloads are music and movies — however, ResNet technicians only know this from students bringing their computers in to be worked on. All browsing on ResNet is private unless a computer is brought into the ResNet office when there’s a problem.
Carole Schaffer, Cal Poly associate director of housing and the director of residential life and education, said because technicians don’t monitor browsing, they tend to only become aware of an issue when notified by the copyright holder.
“ResNet isn’t looking for copyright violations: we’re notified by the entertainment industry,” Schaffer said. “Sony is a big one this year.”
Cal Poly is not held responsible for students who infringe on copyright laws on the Internet as long as ResNet shuts down the computer until the issue is resolved. If ResNet ignores a company’s complaint about a student that’s infringing on copyright, Cal Poly can be held responsible, as well as the individual staff member that should have handled the problem.
Depending on how serious of a copyright violation students commit, they can get in trouble by campus judicial or law enforcement.
“I think all our students are pretty responsible here,” Abney said.
Even when students are responsible on the network and browsing legally, the network can be negatively affected.
When students download large files, they slow down the rate the intranet network can transfer data or time it out. This occurence is known as “sapping bandwidth.”
“The top three are Netflix, Flash Video and gaming,” Abney said. “They are the bandwidth hogs.”
When bandwidth is sapped from students using the network for pleasure, it negatively impacts students that are working against deadlines on online assignments.
To combat this issue, some students choose to use their own networks for pleasure. Students aren’t permitted to use their own routers in the dorms, however, because the router can interfere with the campus network if it isn’t configured correctly.
Psychology senior Corrie Day said she experienced a lot of trouble with ResNet when she moved into the Yosemite residence hall as a freshman in 2007.
“When we had difficulties connecting to ResNet in the Yosemite dorms, it was hard to tell whether it was the service or the concrete walls that felt like we lived in a parking structure blocking the signal,” Day said. “It wasn’t perfect and sometimes ResNet was completely down. There was definitely a lot of frustration and complaining, but no Internet service is perfect. There were instances where we had to go to the library to finish assignments or register for classes because we couldn’t connect in our rooms and that could be pretty infuriating. As students, we always had something to complain about. ResNet was an annoyance we all had in common.”
All students using ResNet in their dorm rooms have to use an ethernet cable to connect to the Internet. ResNet doesn’t provide students with wireless Internet in their dorm rooms due to the expense, but it is currently looking into the possibility for the future.
The only place in residential hall living that
wireless access is available is in the study lounges and common rooms near various halls.
“ResNet is here to support the students that live on campus and their computing needs so they can be successful students at Cal Poly,” Abney said. “People’s natural tendency is to have frustrations, so we work very hard to provide quality service.”
ResNet is one of the services included in student housing fees. Students can bring their computers into the ResNet office if they have any problems or concerns.
Cal Poly graphic communication junior Danielle Lindahl is a ResNet technician.
“If we’re asked pretty much anything that has to do with the computer, we’ll figure it out,” Lindahl said.
Lindahl most commonly helps students connect to the network and performs other miscellaneous tasks.
“From what I saw and heard, most students used the Internet for doing research, sharing new music and watching YouTube,” Day said. “But wherever you have Internet you have porn, and there is no getting around that.”