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Connect at NYU's Global Sites

Register Your Laptop Computer

To register your laptop computer for Internet access at NYU's global sites, complete the appropriate online form for your intended site (see below). You can complete the form before or after you go abroad. Once you have submitted the form, it will take approximately 72 hours for your information to be processed and your computer to be registered.

Please note that laptop access locations vary depending on the site you attend; please check with your local student life personnel for details. Wireless service is available in the academic centers at NYU's locations in Florence, Paris, Madrid, and Ghana. To use this service, contact the student services personnel at those sites.

Hardware and Software Requirements

You'll need the following in order for your laptop to work on the network at the Study Abroad site you've chosen:

  • A 10 or 100 baseT Ethernet card or adapter (with an RJ45 connector), with its drivers, installed in your computer.
  • An ethernet (network) cord to connect your laptop to the network jack at the location. Ethernet cables have RJ45 jacks that have eight gold connector pins, as opposed to four on an RJ-11 telephone jack.
  • Up-to-date virus protection on your computer so that it is safe for use on the network (see the important security information below).

Your Ethernet Card Address

When registering your laptop computer for use at one of NYU's Global sites, you will need to provide the address of the Ethernet card in your computer. This address consists of six pairs of alphanumeric characters (xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx). To locate the unique address on your computer, see the instructions and screen shots for your operating system below:

Windows 2000 & XP

  1. Select Run from the Start menu.
  2. In the "Open" dialog, type cmd.
  3. At the MS-DOS Prompt, type ipconfig /all
  4. The IP Configuration information is displayed. Your Ethernet card address appears under the heading Ethernet adaptor Local Area Connection: to the right of the Physical Address line.

    Make sure that the name of your Ethernet card appears to the right of the words Description (see the illustration). If the Ethernet card is not in the computer, or if it is not properly installed, the PPP Adapter address may appear instead. This is not the address needed to register your laptop.

    If the Ethernet card is not listed, or if you can not run ipconfig.exe, see the instructions in our Wired Laptop Access section for configuring your Ethernet card.

Macintosh OS X

  1. Open the System Preferences, either from the Apple menu in the top left or from the Dock.
  2. Click on Network.
  3. From the Show pull-down menu, select Built-In Ethernet.
  4. For Mac OS X 10.4 and up: In the Ethernet tab, look for Ethernet ID to learn your Ethernet card address. OS X 10.4 and up Ethernet card address screenshot.

    Macintosh OS X 10.4 and up

    For Mac OS X 10.3 and below: In the TCP/IP tab, look for Ethernet Address near the bottom of the window to learn your Ethernet card address. early OS X Ethernet card address screenshot.

    Macintosh OS X 10.3 and below

  5. Quit the System Preferences (System Prefs menu, then select Quit).

NYURoam Wireless in Florence

NYU in Florence now provides NYURoam Wirless service at a variety of locations. To use this service, follow the normal NYURoam Wireless instructions on this site. The one exception is for people using a VPN client. For details, look for the red note for Florence residents in the VPN instructions within the Configuration section of the NYURoam Wireless website.

Important Security Information

A gateway scanner is used at each of NYU's global sites to detect and remove as many viruses and worms as possible before they get to your computer. However, no scanner can catch every virus. If your computer gets infected and you don't clean it, you could be removed from the network to protect other people's computers. Therefore, it is important that you take steps to protect your computer.

Installing anti-virus software and keeping it up to date with the latest virus definitions is one of the most important things you can do to protect your computer against viruses and worms. NYU offers Symantec AntiVirus and Lavasoft Ad-Aware software on the ITS-Licensed Software page and, for people with little or no Internet access, on the NYU-NET CD (available from your local student life personnel). Once you have installed the software, be sure to use the LiveUpdate feature, and set it to automatically check for new virus definitions every day.

Windows computer owners should also set their computer to check Windows Update every day for new operating systems patches. Macintosh owners should set their computer's Software Update feature (in the System Preferences) to check for updates each day. Instructions and a list of the additional steps you should take to protect your computer is available in the Security FAQs.

Policy Information

Access to the Internet is made available to NYU community members as part of the educational computing and networking resources of the University. Such resources and use of NYU's network are privileges and must be exercised in conformity with all applicable ITS policies and all applicable federal and local laws. In particular, be sure to familiarize yourself with the policies regulating the use of peer-to-peer applications on NYU-NET. Failure to abide by ITS policies can result in suspension of network privileges and referral of the matter to the appropriate disciplinary process.

Keep in Touch via NYUHome

NYUHome (http://home.nyu.edu) is your best resource for keeping up to date with the latest news from the Washington Square campus. NYUHome also provides access to many web-based services and tools, including email, spam filtering, Albert, Blackboard, computer security alerts, software, and NYU Libraries resources. More information about NYUHome is available at http://www.nyu.edu/its/nyuhome/.

Troubleshooting Tips

  • Make sure that you've successfully registered your computer and have followed all the instructions on the registration form (see Register Your Laptop Computer above).
  • Verify that you've plugged your computer into your data jack with an Ethernet cable, and not a telephone cord. Ethernet cables have RJ45 jacks that have eight gold connector pins, as opposed to four on an RJ-11 telephone jack.
  • Try using a different Ethernet cable instead, to make sure your cable is actually working.
  • Laptop computers with fragile PCMCIA card connectors sometimes have trouble because the connector that plugs into the PCMCIA card is cracked or broken; make sure that your laptop's connectors are in good condition.
  • Verify your computer's Ethernet card configuration. For assistance with installation of your card, please consult the Ethernet card manufacturer's instructions.
  • Double check the accuracy of the TCP/IP settings that you've configured (see above).
  • Restart your computer if you haven't done so since plugging into the data jack or making changes to your configuration.

Request Help

If you have a question about using your computer at one of NYU's global sites, you can either speak with your local student life personnel, or send a detailed email to: its.global@nyu.edu. An ITS Client Services helpdesk representative will respond to your inquiry within 48 hours.

Page last reviewed: January 12, 2007