Wired Laptops on the CSLab Network

CSLab operates a wired network for laptops and other self-administered machines, the 'red' network (more details are here). Connections to the red network are identified by a red network cable. Machines must be registered with CSLab before they can be used on the red network; unregistered machines will be unable to get network access.

Who Can Use a Laptop on the CSLab Network?

In order to use the CSLab laptop network, you must be associated with the Department of Computer Science or have a sponsor who has a CSLab account. If you do not have a CSLab account or a sponsor, we cannot provide network access for you. Sorry.

How do I use the CSLab Laptop Network?

In order to use a wired (ethernet) connection, a machine has to be registered with CSLab and you need a connection to the red network. There are three ways to register a machine for the red network:

• If you have a CSLab account, you have two options:
  • You can plug the machine into the 'red' network and try to browse the web; this will cause you to be redirected to a portal where you can immediately register the machine.

  • If you are not on the 'red' network, you can register a machine yourself with our self-serve 'red' network registration. You will need your machine's Ethernet address (sometimes called its MAC, its MAC address, or its hardware address).

  If you are a visitor to CSLab, your sponsor can do either of these on your behalf.

• Otherwise you need to talk to your Point of Contact, who will need your machine's Ethernet address; your POC can then arrange to have your machine registered for network access.

If you do not have a red network cable in your office, you need to contact your POC and request one. Laptops should only be plugged into red cables. Do not forget to tell your POC your office and desk number. Someone will respond to your request.

Once your machine is registered for the red network and you have a red cable to plug it into, it will be able to lease an IP address via DHCP. (This means that you must configure your laptop to use DHCP if it isn't already set up to do that.)

Finding Ethernet addresses on Windows, MAC and Linux

• Windows
• Linux
• MAC

IMPORTANT: When finding your Ethernet address, make sure that you're giving CSLab the Ethernet address of your wired network connection, not the Ethernet address of a wireless card or of a virtual network interface.