Visitors

CSLab Guest Account
The theory group has a guest account called thguest. Ideally it should only be used for short term visitors as it can only be used by one visitor at a time (CSLab policy). Elizabeth and I (Ingrid) both have the password to this account, you can contact us if you need it. I will also be emailing the faculty every time the password is changed.

For visitors that will be hear for several days or plan on returning, we recommend that you request an account for them. There is no charge for visitor accounts. I will need to know:

• The visitor's name
  
• The visitor's contact information (email)
  
• Arrival and departure dates

The faculty member that emails me will be used as the account sponsor. Students cannot request visitor accounts, I need a faculty member to sponsor the account.

Your visitor will receive via email:

• account name and password
• my name and contact information
  
• information about how to gaining network access at CSLab if they bring a laptop
  

Visitor's Laptop
Many visitors bring laptops with them, there are two options for gaining network access at CSLab.

1. Red Network Access: this allows visitors to plug their laptop into any red Ethernet cable and get on the network. To activate red network access I will need the following information:

• The visitor's name (cslab user name if they have one).   
  
• The laptop's Ethernet Media Access Control (MAC) address (How to find the MAC address).
• Arrival and departure dates.

Important: Media Access Control (MAC) Address is also known as Ethernet Hardware Address (EHA), Ethernet ID, physical address, adapter address, and hardware address. It has nothing to do with Apple's Macs.

I will then set things up before hand so that when you visitor arrives they can just plug their laptop into our network and be ready to go.


2. Wifi Access: this will allow visitors to use the cslab wifi network. For security reasons gaining access to the wifi network is a two step process and requires both a WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) key and a second form of authentication using either VPN (Virtual Private Network) or the CSLab Authentication Gateway.

Important: In order to access the CSLab wifi network your visitor must have either a CSLab account or be given a guest account. If its a guest account, it can either be a VPN guest account or a proper CSLab guest account with home directory access (ex. thguest). To get either a CSLab account or a VPN account for your guest ahead of time please email me with:

• The visitor's name
• The visitor's contact information (email)
• Arrival and departure dates
  

Our wifi network's name also known as the SSID (Service Set IDentifier) is: cslab

Most modern laptops will display a list of available wifi networks when the wireless card is enabled. Simply clicking or double clicking on the one named cslab will pop-up a window where you can enter the WEP key (password). Its a 128-bit HEX number available by clicking on the link below. You will have to access this page for your guest, if they don't already have an account.

• WEP key (Note: you will need CSLab username and password to access this page).

After successfully entering the WEP key the laptop should now be able to lease in IP address. However, for the laptop to be able to access the Internet, email, or mount home directories the second step of authenticating must be completed. Visitors have a choice between using VPN or authenticating via SSH. Visitors with laptops running Windows will probably prefer to use VPN. Visitors with linux on their laptops will probably prefer to use SSH via the Authenticating Gateway. Most visitors running OS X on a Mac will prefer to use the VPN, but some users like to use the command line for everything and they will probably prefer to use SSH via the Authenticating Gateway. Please follow one of the links below for further instructions.

• VPN
  
• Authenticating Gateway (requires a CSLab account and an ssh client on the laptop)

Your visitor will receive via email:

• WEP key
• VPN account name and password and/or CSLab account name and password
• my name and contact information
• instructions on how to setup and connect to the wifi network at cslab
• instructions on how to remove/disable these setting once they leave
  

Note: if you already know your visitor's room number please include this information as this will make it much easier for me to find them if they need help with anything while they're here.