NetComms > Wireless > About ANU-Access

About ANU-Access

What Is It?

ANU-Access is the university's legacy wireless service. All users of ANU-Access are encouraged to migrate to ANU-Secure. For information on how to connect to ANU-Access, click here. This pages gives an overview of ANU-Access.

History

ANU-Access was first introduced to the university in around 2003. Since then the use of wireless networking around the world has grown exponentially, and the technologies have evolved considerably. As a result, in 2008 NetComms undertook a significant upgrade of the service, due for completion in early 2009. This upgrade will deliver greatly enhanced security, speed and functionality. The new service will be known as "ANU-Secure".

The Future for ANU-Access

ANU-Access will continue to run for the forseeable future. It has been reconceived as a legacy service, offering:

• High-compatibility by supporting legacy 802.11b clients
• Additional legacy support for non-WPA & non-802.1X capable clients
• Simple web authentication for those who want to continue using this method
• A fallback wireless access method

However by comparison with the new service, ANU-Access will offer:

• Lower access speeds (maximum 1Mbps)
• No 802.11n (high-throughput) support
• No 802.11a (5GHz spectrum) support
• No differentiation of off-net, on-net or campus traffic (see Traffic Classes)
• No inbound connection support (particularly SIP)
• Limited outbound connection support (see Access Policy)
• Relatively poor security, by offering no native encryption

More Information

Please head back to the main Wireless Page for more specific information on ANU-Access or the wireless service in general.