SUNY New Paltz provides wireless network service and wireless printing for use by the students, faculty, and staff of the college.

Wireless (WiFi) coverage is available in all buildings on campus and can be used by students, faculty, staff, and authorized guests with laptops, smartphones, and other WiFi enabled devices.

Printing from wireless devices is available provided the wireless device supports the technology. More information about wireless printing can be found on the IPP Wireless Printing page.

Official SUNY New Paltz wireless service is provided with the network name (SSID) “SUNY New Paltz”. You will need to tell your computer to connect to the “SUNY New Paltz” wireless network. After your computer connects to the wireless service you will need to open a web browser and attempt to visit a website such as “www.newpaltz.edu”. Your web browser should be redirected to the wireless login page. You will need to enter your NPCUID as the username and use your password on this site. Once you are logged in through this web page you will be able to access the Internet.

Note: You may also see a wireless network name (SSID) named “NP Hawks WPA”. This is for testing an alternative way to login that doesn’t require using the web based login page. This is available but is currently intended for testing and may not work for you or your device at this time. You may also need to change your password via the my.newpaltz.edu site before your username and password are accepted by the new system. You are welcome to try using it but if you experience problems or can’t get it to work we recommend sticking with the “SUNY New Paltz” network discussed above for the time being.

Guest Registration: Guests can register for a temporary NPCUID and thus be able to use wireless service for a limited time period. If you are on campus as part of an event please ask the event coordinator for a guest NPCUID username and password. Otherwise if you wish to obtain a guest NPCUID account please visit the Academic Computing office in VLC Annex 155.

Supported Wireless Standards: All wireless devices with WiFi support should work on campus. When buying a Laptop or wireless adapter it is strongly recommended to buy one that supports ALL of the following wireless standards:

• 802.11a (5 Ghz)
• 802.11b (2.4 Ghz)
• 802.11g (2.4 Ghz)
• 802.11n (2.4 and 5 Ghz)

These wireless standards are often abbreviated together as “802.11abgn” or “ABGN Wifi”. Many “N wireless” devices are sold without 802.11a support. These are often labeled as being “802.11bgn” or “BGN”. While these devices will work they will often be slower than neighbors with the additional level of WiFi support in areas with many people sitting around you. Getting a laptop with “A” support in addition to “N” support (as in “ABGN”) built in is a good way to ensure a faster smoother experience when using WiFi on busy college campuses.

Security Warning: Wireless service is currently completely unencrypted. Anyone in range could potentially see any unencrypted data sent from your laptop or other wireless device. The use of secure websites (https) and our VPN client is strongly recommended if any sensitive data is involved.

Windows XP

When you turn on your laptop or enter an area with wireless service Windows may will inform you that wireless service is available. You should see an icon in the notification area at the bottom of your screen with a picture of two computers screens. When you right-click on this icon you should see a popup menu with the option “View Available Wireless Networks”. Selecting this option should bring up a list of available wireless networks. Select the “SUNY New Paltz” wireless network and click Connect. Windows may warn you that the network is not secure. The wireless network currently offers no encryption so you will need to tell Windows that the connection should be allowed.

After a few seconds the connection to the wireless network should be ready. Open a web browser and sign into the login page with your NPCUID and password.

Windows 7 and Vista

The easiest way to connect to the wireless network is to click on the Start menu (the Windows logo on the bottom left-hand side of your screen) and select Connect To. You should then see a list of available networks. Select the “SUNY New Paltz” wireless network and click the Connect button. If Windows complains that you are attempting to connect to an “unsecured network” click the “Connect Anyway” button.

After a few seconds the connection to the wireless network should be ready. Open a web browser and sign into the login page with your NPCUID and password.

Getting Support

The quality of wireless support built into laptops, available as add-on adapters and built into wireless devices varies greatly. If you run into problems connecting or staying connected to the “SUNY New Paltz” or network please make sure you are using the newest version of drivers available for your wireless chipset. Also make sure to use the wireless network selection tool built into the operating system and not the tools made available by other parties such as Linksys and DLink.

If you feel a space doesn’t have adequate wireless coverage please let the Student Help Desk know.

If you are a student, guest, faculty or staff member using their own laptop or device and you need help with wireless network service please contact the Student Help Desk at 845-257-3597 (x3597).

If you are a faculty or staff member using college provided equipment please contact the Faculty/Staff Help Desk for support at 845-257-3449 (x3449).