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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Tuesday, August 28, 2001

Hawai'i Tech
HPU wirelessly networks with students

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

Nathan Yuen is studying e-business at Hawaii Pacific University, and so it would be frustrating to sit in a classroom learning about fancy marketing films that high-end businesses are posting on the Web without being able to see for himself.

Luckily, he doesn't have to feel frustrated. He and other HPU students are cutting the cyberwires this fall and flying free. The campus has put up transmitters ("access ports") on its five Fort Street Mall buildings, connecting students with specially equipped laptops to the college computer network. The wireless system allows students and faculty to park themselves anywhere on campus and wirelessly tap into the college's high-speed Internet access as well as run any of the software they need for their projects.

Yuen was one of the students who tested the system during summer classes, before its official debut when fall classes convene next week.

"I liked it so much I purchased one of those network interface cards," he said, referring to the card that, in his Dell Inspiron 5000 laptop, functions as a receiver of the wireless signal.

"It's a great experience to have wireless connectivity on your desk," Yuen added. "I can have my personal machine connected to the network all the time."

Giving students this kind of freedom is becoming a trend on campuses. At the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, a similar system has been installed in the Pacific Ocean Science and Technology Building, enabling computer science students in a nearby lecture room to have wireless Internet access.

And at Chaminade University, academic computing director Kerry Kakazu and his staff are putting finishing touches on a system that allow access in the dormitories and many classrooms.

HPU seems the closest to achieving blanket coverage, though. Justin Itoh, associate vice president of information technology services, said necessity propelled the university to pursue this option.

"Space is very limited downtown," Itoh said. "We always have a shortage of computer lab space.

"And as we continue to increase enrollment, we just don't have the space for more computers. Now students can use their own laptops and be anywhere."

The university chose the Cisco Aironet wireless system. It's designed to work with PCs only; the Lucent system purchased at Chaminade can interface with both PCs and Macintoshes, Kakazu said.

However, the advantage of the Aironet is its increased security. The system is designed to work inside the building, Itoh said, but there is some "leakage" of the signal into the mall linking the campus buildings. Such an open, public thoroughfare requires extra security to prevent outsiders from hacking into the network, he said.

Most wireless networks are designed to allow only computers with specifically coded receiver cards to get the signal linking them to the network, Itoh said; this one adds a user-name and password hurdle as well.

That's what made the expense worthwhile, he said: Aironet transmitter stations cost $1,000 each (the college has eight), compared to a low-end system that starts at $300 per access port.

"We cannot provide that lax security in a public area such as Fort Street Mall," he added.

Students using their laptops also will be able to load programs stored on specific campus computers, expensive software they may not be able afford themselves, Itoh said. These include Microsoft Office, Visual Studio, Adobe Pagemaker and System Architect.

Yuen has discovered another benefit as well: The laptop card also fits in his Pocket PC.

"I'm able to get 11 megabits per second to my handheld," he said. The most-wired students at HPU are happy to get unwired, too.

Reach Vicki Viotti at vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8053.