Wi-Fi Do's and Don'ts for Students in Residence Halls and University Apartments

Follow these do's and don'ts for the best Wi-Fi experience in the residence halls and university apartments.

Do's

Do use the MU Secure Wi-Fi network for your phone, tablet, or laptop.
Do use your room's activated Ethernet network jacks for a wired network connection. If you can use a wired connection while in your room for remote learning, please do. A wired connection offers you the best network performance.
Do use the MU Open Wi-Fi network — or even better, a wired Ethernet connection — when available for devices such as smart TVs and gaming consoles.
- A wired connection reduces the Wi-Fi footprint in the area, leaving Wi-Fi signals free for other devices and your neighbors.
- Wired connections provide the most consistent streaming and gaming experience.
- If wired Ethernet jacks are not available, then use MU Open Wi-Fi for smart TVs and gaming consoles. Please read and follow these MU Open instructions before attempting to connect.
Do use the device Wi-Fi settings to “forget” MU Secure, if you're having intermittent network issues. Then re-add MU Secure Wi-Fi and reconnect.
Do turn off your personal video if you experience network issues during a virtual meeting. You may also try disabling incoming video. If you are using a wired connection or your Wi-Fi responsiveness seems good, virtual meeting glitches may not be driven by your connection. Does just one person's feed sound garbled? If everyone else is clear and understandable, the issue may be with another attendee's network connection.
Do give details when reporting a Wi-Fi issue to the IT Services TechSquad, including:
- a precise location (i.e., building, floor, room, or area)
- type of issue (e.g., cannot connect, slow connection)
- type of device and client (e.g., laptop running Microsoft Teams for online meeting, smartphone and web browsing)
- relative crowd size in the area
- time of day
Do please respond to follow-up queries from IT Services staff investigating your reported Wi-Fi issues. Often technicians and engineers require more information to troubleshoot the problem.

Don'ts

Don’t connect to the MU Guest or MU Open Wi-Fi networks with a device that is able to connect to MU Secure (e.g., personal laptops or cell phones).
- MU Guest and MU Open networks lack access to campus resources and may offer inferior networking speed.
- If you joined these networks with a device that can connect to MU Secure, use your Wi-Fi device settings to “forget” them from your list of Wi-Fi networks.
- Forgetting those network names helps prevent re-connecting to the incorrect Wi-Fi for the device.
Don’t place furniture, electronics, or appliances in front of the white Cisco devices located on a wall.
- These devices are roughly one- to two-feet off the floor level, providing Wi-Fi to the surrounding area.
- Radio inference from electronics, appliances, or fans can degrade Wi-Fi for you and your neighbors.
Don’t bring a Wi-Fi router, Wi-Fi extender, or network printer to use in your residence hall room or university apartment.
- These devices will likely interfere with the campus Wi-Fi network, causing network troubles for you and for your neighbors.
- Activated hotspots on smartphones may also cause interference.
- Network printers won't function correctly on the campus network — neither via Wi-Fi nor Ethernet jack. Instead, a directly-connected USB-cabled or Bluetooth-connected printer are options.

Tip: Working or gaming together in the same space? If all are using Wi-Fi, keep your group to six or fewer.