Can I use the physical network jack in my room?


  • If you are a student and you want to use the network jack in your residence hall room, you won't be able to.
    • The cabling that supports those network jacks is extremely old (almost 30 years old, in fact!), and you'd get subpar performance (about 10 megabits per second, 10 Mbps) using that cabling, even if it were active. For comparison, our current wireless infrastructure can support well over 300 Mbps!
    • You might see a cable or a network jack near the ceiling in your room, but please don't unplug any devices or remove any of the covers. We're working on expanding wireless infrastructure in residence halls. We employ active monitoring, so we'll know if you have. Remember, damage to equipment can be assessed to your student account, including tampering or damage to the boxes or cables, pursuant to the Housing and Meal Plan Terms and Conditions § 15. We may contact you directly to facilitate an upgrade pursuant to Housing and Meal Plan Terms and Conditions § 13. You will receive ample notice when we are preparing to upgrade your room or apartment, and we'll work with you to find a good time to perform any possible upgrades.
    • If you manage to connect your device to this new cabling, you'll find that it won't work. None of the cables are activated until we install a wireless appliance, and if you pull this appliance off of the wall and use that cable, you'll find that you can't get a connection - all devices are blocklisted except for the one's that we've allowed to be used.
  • If you are a faculty member or an employee and you want to use the network jack in your office, you might be able to.
    • If you already have an active network jack, we will probably be able to move the active network jack to a different jack in your office (if you're moving desks).
    • If you already have an active network jack and you want another, we may not be able to.
    • If you don't have any active network jacks in your office and you need one, contact LBIS for help or file a ticket in the Self-Service Portal on TOPdesk.