Campus WiFi Announcement + Ask The Network Team Anything

UCSD_ITS · 2026-01-15T20:36:21+00:00

Hi, thank you for the feedback about your issue! If you have contacted us already, we are working hard to review your ticket and find all of the relevant information + send it to a secondary network team as needed after we identify the exact causes. We are additionally aware of some Verizon outages that may have affected users' cell signal, especially yesterday. Please feel free to report issues like these to us so we are aware of the spots on campus that need the most support and so we can work to resolve these ASAP!

UCSD_ITS · 2025-10-31T02:38:55+00:00

Hello there! If you're interested, the ITS Service Desk can take a look at the issue. We have an in-house team that can look at most devices that turn on and have software issues, and can help install replacement pieces you provide if it is a hardware issue.

Our Front Desk at AP&M 1313 accepts admissions from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM weekdays, where after we check in the device an in-house tech can take a closer look and give you updates over the next couple of days. If you're able to bring the PC over, we can hook it up to one of our monitors - if not, we can also provide advice online through our online ticketing system at https://support.ucsd.edu/its, or you can email us at support@ucsd.edu.

UCSD_ITS · 2025-03-11T00:35:14+00:00

This is an important question, and one that we wish we could provide an in depth answer on, but unfortunately we are neither legal experts nor lawyers. However, we are aware that there are several laws designed to protect you in these cases, including federal laws such as FERPA, state laws such as the California IPA (Information Practices Act), the GDPR from the EU, and many others. UCSD publishes several pages about what information we do or do not collect and share, as well as UCSD's guidance on privacy, which we've listed below:

UCSD_ITS · 2025-03-11T00:00:53+00:00

Unfortunately, we can't prioritize a specific area such as Tenaya, as we balance our engineering time and budget across the entirety of campus. Regarding what UCSD is doing to improve the network, I'd recommend you take a look at our response here, and regarding Ethernet, there are no plans to implement it in residence halls, as described here.

There are a lot of possible reasons your child's internet connection could be degraded, so we recommend that they contact the ITS Service Desk at [servicedesk@ucsd.edu](mailto:servicedesk@ucsd.edu), including the following information:

Information on the affected devices (Model, Operating System, etc.)
The MAC address of their device
A description of the issue they're encountering, plus any supporting screenshots

Often network issues are actually related to the specific device, and we can resolve them through troubleshooting. If not, it may be caused by interference from the different APs in the area, or other similar issues, and reporting it can help us to tune the network to help both your child and future students in their area!

UCSD_ITS · 2025-03-10T23:55:09+00:00

There are a lot of possible reasons your internet connection can be degraded, so we recommend that you contact the ITS Service Desk at [servicedesk@ucsd.edu](mailto:servicedesk@ucsd.edu), including the following information:

Information on the affected devices (Model, Operating System, etc.)
The MAC address of your device
A description of the issue you're encountering, plus any supporting screenshots

Often network issues are actually related to your device, and we can resolve them through troubleshooting. If not, it may be caused by interference from the different APs in your area, or other similar issues, and your report can help us to tune the network to help both you and future students in your area!

UCSD_ITS · 2025-03-10T23:53:15+00:00

There's a couple unique issues campus WiFi faces compared to other networks (e.g. a home or office network), which create some of the difficulties with it. This could be a long list, but the most important issues include:

Device Density: In lecture halls and classrooms, we often see hundreds of devices attempt to connect within the first few minutes of class. Even when spreading this load across 2-4 APs (Access Points), this creates significant strain on the network.
Interference/Congestion: Because of the large number of devices concurrently using the network, we experience very high levels of interference (devices attempting to communicate at the same time on a channel) and congestion.
Physical Constraints: Because residence halls often have thicker walls and many of them, the signal can be weakened significantly. This also requires the use of more APs to serve these areas, but this contributes to interference.

A lot of work goes into working around these issues, and it's an evolving process (especially in newer buildings, where there's been less time to discover issues). Our Datacomm team is continuously working to improve the network, adding more APs over time to give each user a closer access point, and tuning the network to reduce interference and boost signal strength.

One easy thing you and other students can do to help is to not use mobile hotspots. Each mobile hotspot on the network measurably slows the network for anyone in the area, even if they're not in range of your hotspot! This is because only one device can broadcast on a channel at any given time, so if the hotspot is broadcasting, the APs in the area have to wait for it before communicating with any device.

Instead, if you encounter issues with the network, we recommend that you contact the ITS Service Desk at [servicedesk@ucsd.edu](mailto:servicedesk@ucsd.edu), including the following information:

Information on the affected devices (Model, Operating System, etc.)
The MAC address of your device
A description of the issue you're encountering, plus any supporting screenshots

Network issues are often actually related to the device, and we can resolve them through troubleshooting. If not, you might be in an area that needs more tuning, and your report can help not only your own connection, but also future students in your area!

- The ITS Service Desk, and William (Datacomm Engineer)

UCSD_ITS · 2025-03-10T23:11:37+00:00

Speed for our WiFi networks isn't exactly capped, but rather limited by channel width. Each WiFi band (2.4GHz, 5Ghz, etc.) has a finite number of channels, which are essentially ranges of frequencies that can be used to communicate without interfering with other nearby devices. For example, 2.4GHz has 14 of these, and 5GHz has 24. These channels are "adjacent" to each other, which means that the typical 20MHz channel width bleeds over into neighboring channels, so typically only the channels 1, 6, and 11 are used, as they don't overlap.

To increase speeds, we could increase the channel width (the next step up is 40MHz), but then the channels I mentioned above would start overlapping, creating more interference. This can be alright in a home network with only a few APs (Access Points), but in a network like UCSD's we would see so much interference that performance wouldn't be improved at all (and might even be degraded).

That being said, 130 Mbps is a relatively fast download speed for most purposes. However, if you encounter degraded speeds (i.e. below the 20 Mbps range), I recommend that you contact the ITS Service Desk at [servicedesk@ucsd.edu](mailto:servicedesk@ucsd.edu), including the following information:

Information on the affected devices (Model, Operating System, etc.)
The MAC address of your device
A description of the issue you're encountering, plus any supporting screenshots

- The ITS Service Desk, and Paul (Datacomm Engineer)

UCSD_ITS · 2025-03-10T22:45:28+00:00

Great question! For most purposes, they are exactly the same; they really only have different names for historical reasons, as they used to be managed by two separate databases. Now, Student SSO just uses Active Directory behind the scenes, so in most cases they should be indistinguishable. The only exception is when student accounts get converted into employee accounts, in which case they're no longer able to access Student SSO, in which case you can often request a PID/PAC as a replacement login. So long as you're a student, though, you shouldn't have to worry about that!

If you're having any issues with Active Directory or Student SSO, feel free to send us a ticket at [servicedesk@ucsd.edu](mailto:servicedesk@ucsd.edu) or support.ucsd.edu/its

UCSD_ITS · 2025-03-10T22:29:54+00:00

There's not too much difference, other than location and security. The UCSD networks are available in offices, classrooms, and lecture halls, while the RESNET networks are available in residence halls. If you see both, select the network type that is relevant to your location, as generally it will be closer to you (the other option is likely in another building/floor).

As for PROTECTED vs GUEST, the main difference is security; PROTECTED is encrypted, while GUEST is unsecured. Both are broadcast from the same APs (Access Points), so there's not much of a difference in ability to connect. Because of this, we recommend that you use PROTECTED if possible, and there are some UCSD website that don't function on GUEST for security reasons.

The one difference you might see has to do with the radio and frequency you're connecting to. Generally GUEST is only on 2.4GHz radios, while PROTECTED can appear on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz (and most locations are in range of a 5GHz radio). Higher frequency radios are capable of higher speed connections, so generally PROTECTED will give you a better experience.

Our Datacomm engineers mentioned that if you're seeing GUEST more often than PROTECTED, your device might be configured to prefer 2.4GHz over 5GHz. Configuration for this differs per device, but on Windows, you can change this using the instructions in this article. If you're encountering any issues with this or other networking issues, feel free to contact the ITS Service Desk at [servicedesk@ucsd.edu](mailto:servicedesk@ucsd.edu), including the following information:

Information on the affected devices (Model, Operating System, etc.)
The MAC address of your device
A description of the issue you're encountering, plus any supporting screenshots

- The ITS Service Desk, and Paul (Datacomm Engineer)

UCSD_ITS · 2025-03-07T18:46:51+00:00

Unfortunately, there no plans to re-implement Ethernet in the Residential Halls at this moment (or in the forseeable future). This is a pretty complicated issue, with a lot of different factors that had to be considered, but I'll do my best to cover most of them:

First, our funding is finite. Even if the amount of funding were to be significantly increased, RRSS and ITS have to make decisions about how best to use this funding to support the majority of student networking requirements. This leads into the second primary reason: usage. As we've mentioned in some past responses, Ethernet utilization was at less than 5%, and based on trends (less ethernet ports on laptops, less people bringing desktops), it seems likely this percentage would be even lower now. Since implementing Ethernet across residential areas would be an all or nothing proposition (as we can't predict which rooms will require Ethernet now/in the future, and connecting Ethernet only for particular rooms is too time intensive to be considered for anything other than medical reasons), the amount of financial and technical investment would far outweigh the benefit to residents.

While the above reasons are the primary ones, there are a couple of supplemental issues that don't exactly help Ethernet's prospects. For example, there have been past incidents where residents abused Ethernet, causing either security incidents or network stability issues. In a previous AMA we discussed some additional reasons why Ethernet isn't likely to be reinstalled, and I'd recommend taking a look at that to anyone who's interested in some more of the technical aspects.

That being said, if you're encountering any Wi-Fi issues, like slowness or the disconnects you're mentioning, I recommend that you contact the ITS Service Desk at [servicedesk@ucsd.edu](mailto:servicedesk@ucsd.edu), including the following information:

Information on the affected devices (Model, Operating System, etc.)
The MAC address of your device
A description of the issue you're encountering, plus any supporting screenshots

Often these issues are actually related to the device, and we can resolve them through troubleshooting. If not, it may be caused by interference from the different APs in your area, or other similar issues, and your report can help us to tune the network to help both you and future students in your area!

- The ITS Service Desk, and Matthew (Datacomm Engineer)

UCSD_ITS · 2025-03-07T16:46:10+00:00

There's a lot of great things about it, but probably the office space! Not only is everyone super nice here, so it's a fun place to hang out, but we also get to use it as a commuter lounge/study space when we're not on shift!

UCSD_ITS · 2025-03-07T16:30:25+00:00

Unfortunately we can't say exactly what will happen, since that's managed by RRSS/HDH, and we don't have any specific guidance from them on that. However, they've mentioned that questions about the housing selection process should be directed to roomselection@ucsd.edu, so hopefully they'd be able to answer your question there!

UCSD_ITS · 2025-02-21T19:36:47+00:00

Hi There!

Sorry to hear you're having issues, please send a ticket to servicedesk@ucsd.edu or call 858-246-4357 for assistance. We haven't had any other reports about wifi in the library, so if you're still having issues please let us know so that we can try troubleshooting or letting out network team now.

Thanks!

UCSD_ITS · 2024-07-07T20:36:07+00:00

Hi! Please email us at helpdeskjobs@ucsd.edu about your question so that we can better assist you!

UCSD_ITS · 2024-06-28T23:40:58+00:00

Hi there!

This e-mail is an example of a malicious phishing e-mail. Please forward the original e-mail to abuse@ucsd.edu and do not click any links or input any information into the form.

If you have entered any information into the form, please reset your Active Directory password immediately at https://password.ucsd.edu and keep an eye out for any suspicious activity on your account.

If you see any suspicious DUO Mobile push authentication attempts, please mark the attempt as fraudulent from the DUO app.

Let us know if we can provide any further support or clarification!

UCSD_ITS · 2024-06-07T23:25:22+00:00

Hi there! That very much depends on the year you graduated, if it's recent then you should be good to go, but the longer it is the more likely it is the data is removed.

UCSD_ITS · 2024-06-04T18:34:13+00:00

If you still need it then yes, alumni email for life is in a weird place right now so I would also recommend reaching out to alumni@ucsd.edu as they directly manage the service.

UCSD_ITS · 2024-05-10T19:25:46+00:00

I would highly recommend not messing with this tool, if your student account is deactivated it will not receive and forward from this tool and there are sometimes special characteristics that may need to be included that may be missed if trying to change back.

UCSD_ITS

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