What is Bishop’s University Wireless?
The Bishop’s University wireless network allows students, faculty and staff to surf the Web from a number of locations across campus. Please check the coverage document, or look for the signs indicating wireless is available here.
There are two flavors of wireless services at Bishop’s University:
- WIZABU: provides encrypted (secure) wireless access
- Allows access to Internet and Bishop’s Resources (printers and network drives and campus subscriptions)
- SSID = WIZABU for all BU students, staff, faculty
- Instructions for Configuration
- ZAP: provides unencrypted (insecure) wireless access
- Free access for registered ZAP Sherbrooke users (free accounts available at www.zapsherbrooke.org)
Security
The “WIZABU” service offers encryption of wireless traffic and provides secure access to the campus network. The network will authenticate users before access is allowed. This service uses WPA-based authentication and encryption to provide wireless security. In particular PEAP with MSCHAP v2 is used for authentication while AES is the encryption cipher. Keep in mind that although access between the campus network and end user is encrypted, accessing the Internet is still considered unsecured, and is dependent on security measures utilized by the website you are accessing.
The “ZAP” service does not offer encryption of wireless traffic, therefore any Internet activity should be considered as insecure. However, some websites on the Internet do provide some level of data encryption. Web sites performing sensitive transactions generally use an encryption protocol called SSL (Secure Socket Layer). You can confirm which web sites use SSL by looking at the URL. If SSL is in use, the URL will start with https:// (instead of ) and any text (except the actual URL) will be encrypted between you and the web server.
Reliability
Wireless networks are subject to occasional interference and congestion, resulting in possible loss of transmission or slow response times. ITS monitors and proactively manages the network’s day-to-day operation. Please check the ITS page for details on how to report problems.
Safety
Wireless LAN products need to be certified in North America by the FCC and Industry Canada. These spread-spectrum radio devices operate at a fraction of the recommended exposure requirements for cell phones. Manufacturers publish specifications for each piece of equipment. Each access point for example, only generates a maximum of 100 milliWatts (although this is reduced in many areas). Since WLAN products transmit only intermittently (rather than continuously) when in use, exposure is even more reduced. CCS closely monitors research concerning Radio Frequency safety, because it should not be compromised.
