Using Wi-Fi at MCC

Addendum to Acceptable Use Policy

McHenry County College cannot be held responsible for any changes you make to your computers settings as a result of attempting to connect to the wireless network. It is expected that the user/owner of the laptop is capable of configuring the network setting on his/her computer. Our staff is not trained to configure your laptop to use the network and cannot provide troubleshooting assistance. If you have trouble connecting with your laptop, please remember that students in credit classes are provided with computer accounts and may access the network in the academic computing labs. Library patrons may use the public access computers provided in the library.

This wireless network is not a secure network. We recommend that you do not use this network for the transfer of sensitive data, such as credit card numbers or bank account numbers, even while using SSL encryption built into your web browser. This data would be vulnerable during transit on the network, where any person in the area running commonly available software on a wireless laptop computer could intercept the data. Remember that anything wireless is inherently less secured than anything with wires. McHenry County College accepts no liability for any loss of privacy or data you may experience while using the network.

MCC accepts no liability for any changes to your computer configuration that you may experience while using the network.

MCC provides wireless data network access in select locations. This access uses the 802.11n standard for speeds up to 450Mbps. Wireless networking is provided as a supplemental service to the Colleges wired local area network and is not a full-featured replacement for wired access or your network account. Course-related application software that is provided on the College's wired LAN computers is not available through this wireless network. Access to the home directory on the College's LAN is not available through this wireless network.

Use of the wireless network on campus is subject to the following rules:

  • Wireless access on campus is subject to the colleges Student Code of Conduct and the Acceptable Use Policy found in the college catalog and posted on campus.
  • Each student is permitted three connection to the wireless network for a personal computer or handheld device.
  • Connection of hubs, switches, routers, non-College-owned wireless access points or any other device which may interfere with the campus network are not permitted.
  • Connection sharing is not allowed.

Violations will result in loss of access to the wireless network. Any other action that is judged detrimental to campus network operation by the College IT staff may be terminated.

The wireless connection is a direct connection to the Internet with a basic firewall. No firewall is provided between your computer and other computers on the wireless network. It is your responsibility to provide a properly configured local firewall on your wireless device. The college does not provide virus or spyware scanning software for this connection, and therefore the risk of infections to computers increases. Connection users, not MCC, are responsible for virus infections, spyware, or other malware originating from this wireless Internet connection.

Portions of this policy adopted by permission from: Northeast Alabama Community College, Rainsville, AL Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh