Student Residential Network

All students living in residential housing on the Columbia University Medical Center campus have access to wired or wireless Ethernet network connections.
Those who would like to get connected to either or both networks are required to follow the Steps Required to Get Connected to the CUMC network.

Overview

Bard Hall, Georgian, Tower I, Tower II, Tower III, 106 Haven, 154 Haven, and E-Lounge are equipped with wired Ethernet, so that they are part of the CUMC campus network. That means students at these locations are able to connect a properly configured computer to the campus network, allowing access to networked resources at high network speeds. Wireless connections are also provided at Bard Hall's main lounge, PH-17, and the Library (LL1, Lobby, and 2nd Floor).

Public-access computer clusters with both Macintosh and Windows PCs have been and will continue to be available at several locations on the Health Sciences campus, but we expect many students will find having their own computers and accessing networked resources from their rooms more convenient. Networked resources that students will be able to access include: electronic mail (all students receive a free basic electronic mail account); on-line library holdings; indexes and abstracts; student services, online registration for classes and ordering transcripts; and CourseWorks. Access to the Internet is also available.

Here are direct links to the various forms that CUMC students need to use to register or change their information regarding network connections on the CUMC campus:
Be sure to completely read the Steps Required to Get Connected before submitting an online form!

• Wired Connection
• Wireless Connection
• Replace Network Card - please fill this out if the Network Card (NIC) on a previously registered computer was replaced, as it will change the "Hardware" address that the CUMC network uses to recognize and connect the computer.
• Location Change Request - please use this form if you have moved from one student residence to another.

Steps Required to Get Connected

Following is a summary of what is required to connect to the Health Sciences Residence Network:

• You must be a resident of Bard, Georgian, Tower I, Tower II, Tower III, 106 Haven or 154 Haven to get wired Ethernet connections in the dormitories, except for wired Ethernet at the E-lounge or wireless Ethernet connections anywhere on campus.
• You need to activate your Columbia email account if it is not already active.
• You can get detailed information either in paper from Information Commons (on the 2nd floor of the Library), or you can download a copy from http://www.cubhis.org/getting_help/documentation.html (please select the appropriate operating system fro the computer you'd like to connect under the "How to Establish a Residential Network Connection" heading).
• Verify that your computer has a working wired or wireless network interface card and, if using the wired network, you have a "Cat 5" or network cable to plug your computer into the data port at your housing.
• You need to determine the "hardware address" of your Ethernet adapter; it may be printed on the card or you may need to run a program to find it out. For more information, please refer to http://www.cubhis.org/getting_help/faq-student-network.html#macaddress
• You need to fill out and submit an online Wired or Wireless IP registration form. Typically, within 1 to 2 business days you will receive network registration information for your computer.
• Plug your computer into the data port using your network cable. Most systems will connect automatically, but if your computer does not or you received information in the IP registration email that you need to take extra steps to connect your system and they did not work, please contact Information Commons.
• Wireless connections must also take the extra steps listed on our wireless page to connect to the CUMC campus wireless network, Rome.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
You can send questions via email to 5help@columbia.edu, call (212) 305-4357 (extension 5-Help), or stop by the Information Commons Help Desk (Health Sciences Library, 2nd fl). If you have followed all of the steps above and cannot connect from your housing, it is best if you call from your computer at your room so we can talk you through finding information about why your system is not connecting at that location.

NOTE: Please do not contact AcIS (the Morningside campus technical support) with questions or problems pertaining to connecting to the network from CUMC Residence Housing and campus.

Frequently Asked Questions

Please also see the Student FAQs for Residential Networks for more answers.

Computer Requirements

What kind of computer do I need to connect to the network?
If you have do not yet have a computer please see the recommendations and special offers available to CUMC students at http://www.cubhis.org/getting_started/comppurch.html

Most systems purchased within the past few years, with a 10/100 Fast Ethernet network card or WiFi certified 802.11b wireless network card, are able to connect to the CUMC network. Information Commons strongly recommends that students use a system running Windows XP Professional or Mac OSX, though older versions of these operating systems will connec to the network.

What is Ethernet?

Ethernet is the standard which many institutions and businesses use for their networking requirements. As n international standard it guarantees compatibility with other products. Microsoft, Novell, and Unix networking protocols can be run over the Ethernet wiring, giving you a range of options to set up the most suitable network for your needs.

What is an Ethernet address?

An Ethernet hardware address is a unique 12-digit hexadecimal (0-9, A-F) number which identifies your Ethernet adapter. Manufacturers assign Ethernet addresses, and they are used to identify each machine on the network. Ethernet connections use a protocol known as TCP/IP, which is the underlying language of the Internet. The CUMC Residence Network enables students to obtain an IP number (Internet address) either manually or via DHCP (automatically) in order to connect their personal computers directly to the CUMC campus network backbone via a high-speed Ethernet connection. With an Ethernet connection, students can quickly access CPMCnet, Medline, CLIO, ColumbiaNet as well as resources of the wider Internet. Services such as electronic mail, browsing the world wide Web, and downloading software from public archive sites are available to you from your own computer.

Here is a sample Ethernet address:00001D1298AC. Some systems write this as: 00:00:1D:12:98:AC, 00-00-1D-12-98-AC, or 0000.1d12.98ac. A hardware address is always exactly 12 hexadecimal numbers. Any leading zeroes are significant and must be entered. All users must register their Ethernet address to obtain an IP address and host name on Columbia's network.

How do I find my Ethernet address?

Please see the instructions at either our tutorials page for a printable Adobe Acrobat file that will show you How to Connect to the Residential Network or the Student FAQs. The instructions vary depending on the operating system your computer is running.

What kind of Ethernet Card & Cable are required?

The computer being attached to the network must have an Ethernet adapter installed and a cable to the wall jack (some computers have built-in Ethernet). If you need to buy an Ethernet adapter separately the adapter must be for a twisted-pair connection, also called 10BaseT or RJ-45. Be sure to request a 10Base-T (or RJ-45) cable as well.

You may install the Ethernet adapter yourself following the instructions from your card manufacturer. In addition, Information Commons technicians are also available to help you with software installation.

How do I install an Ethernet Card?

Please follow the manufacturer's instructions of the card you purchase first. If you need extra help on installation, please contact us with the information regarding your computer and Ethernet card.

What is DHCP?

DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. DHCP's purpose is to enable individual computers on an IP network to extract their configurations from a server (the 'DHCP server') or servers, in particular, servers that have no exact information about the individual computers until they request the information. The overall purpose of this is to reduce the work necessary to administer a large IP network. The most significant piece of information distributed in this manner is the IP address.

What this means to you as a student is that (for most housing locations) you don't need to set up the static IP on your computer as before. You will need to set your computer to obtain IP and DNS server automatically which is the default setting for most computers. If you have questions regarding this please see our online tutorials center's printable Adobe Acrobat files on How to Set Up Your Computer for DHCP or contact Information Commons.