Day One: A College Dorm Setup Guide
It's your first day in a college dorm. Your parents have left. Dad cried. You have bags of supplies piled up in a corner. The previous residents left the kind of mess only a bleach-spraying flamethrower can fix, and even though you know your roommates pretty well already through Facebook, you still aren’t sure if they’re truly human.
None of that has priority, though. You want to get your tech online, whether you brought it with you or just picked up shiny new goodies at the campus computer store. How do you get started?
Step One: Read Your Dorm Room Information Package
You probably received a dorm room information package when you moved in. It might be buried under that pile of new books, school supplies and other goodies — dig it out now, because you’re going to need it.
Somewhere in that welcome package, you’ll find instructions for connecting your laptop or computer to the college’s computer network. Each college system is slightly different, but in almost all cases, you must register to access the system. Registration may require using a computer already connected to the system, such as one at the library or a dorm resident’s already-connected system. You’ll need at least some of the following information:
- Your assigned college email address or username
- Your dorm building’s name and your room number
- The physical address of your computer
- Your computer’s serial number, usually found on the back or bottom
- Your dorm’s Ethernet port number (if applicable).
Your network or physical address is available through your computer. Different operating systems have different methods of retrieving the IP address. Find out how to retrieve this information from your computer before moving into the dorm, and you’ll save yourself some time. This type of information is typically found in the “Network settings” menu within the Control Panel (Windows) or System Preferences menu (Mac).
Once you fill out the online registration form, you may have to wait up to 24 hours before you can access the network.
Wired or Wireless?
Some colleges offer wireless connectivity, while others favor wired systems for greater security. If you have multiple devices and the dorm only provides an Ethernet jack, a wireless router will be a huge help. Check with your college IT department before installing a router, however — some colleges have restrictions on what equipment can connect to their network, and specific router settings may be required. Others ban wireless local area networks (LAN) (definition of LAN) outright, so before you splurge on high-priced, complex gear, be sure you know the campus tech services ground rules and set up your wireless security immediately.
Come Prepared
Unless you feel you cannot live without a CPU*, laptops are generally preferable in dorm rooms. Laptops are smaller, more portable and can connect to docking stations when you need to work at a desk. Besides, at the end of the school year, you’ll have to pack up everything and move out, and laptops take up much less space than a CPU or monitor.
* Design, film, architecture and engineering students: Think twice before jumping at a laptop — larger screens and more computing power may be what you need (don’t even go into those who plan to game on the family $$).
Pick yourself up an Ethernet cable before moving into the dorm. You’ll need to plug one into the Ethernet jack if the dorm uses a wired network, and a cable will at least let you get your laptop online until you can pick up a router. Ethernet cables can also come in handy at the campus library or academic halls that might not have the same wireless connectivity you’re used to at home.
The first few days of college life are a mix of excitement, nervousness and activity. Follow the college’s rules for setting up your network carefully, and remember that the IT department offers student assistance. The sooner you can get online, the sooner you can Skype home, play a few games for stress relief or kick back with a movie after classes. Oh yeah, and you might want to use your tech for studying as well…