Skip to main content

Secondary navigation:

Information Technology Services

Breadcrumb navigation:

bc home > offices > help > get started > connect to network > Wired > Current page: wired networking

Wired Networking at BC

connecting to the bc network

What you need to connect to the BC Wired Network

BC Faculty, Students, Staff and Affiliates:

Visitors:

  • You must be on campus in an area with access to an Ethernet network wall jack. All residence hall rooms have an Ethernet network jack. Most conference rooms and classrooms have an Ethernet network jack. Confirm with your host that a network jack will be available for use.
  • Ethernet network cable.

Step 1: Physical Set-up

Plug your computer into the BC network using an Ethernet cable:

  1. Plug one end of the Ethernet cable into the Ethernet jack on your computer (see Figure 1)


    • An Ethernet cable looks similar to a phone cable, but the ends are wider. If you do not have an Ethernet cable they are available for purchase at the BC Bookstore.
    • The Ethernet jack looks like a large phone jack and is usually on the back or side of your computer.

      Figure 1
      Figure 1.
  2. Find the wall jack in your office, lab, or residence hall room. Plug the other end of the Ethernet cable into the network jack (below the picture of a computer) (see Figure 2).

    • Once you activate your computer in one network jack, you will be able to access the network from any network jack on campus.

      Figure 2
      Figure 2.

Step 2: Activate your computer for wired access

To activate your computer on the BC network, do the following:

  1. Open your Web browser and go to: https://activate.bc.edu (see Figure 3).

    Figure 6
    Figure 3.
  2. For BC faculty, students, staff and affiliates (visitors skip to step 4):
    Click the button for BC faculty, students, staff, and affiliates and follow the instructions. Note the following:
    1. Windows computer users are required to download & install ePO, a required piece of Anti-Virus protection.
    2. If you get a message prompting you to change the name of your computer, another computer on the network already has the name you chose. There cannot be more than one computer on the network with the same computer name. Follow the instructions provided on the Activation web page to change your computer name.
  3. Restart your computer after activating. There may be a short time delay after you activate before you can access your BC email and the web.
  4. For Visitors:
    Click Visitors (see Figure 3) and follow the on-screen instructions to complete activation.
    All visitor access ends at 6:00 AM daily. To regain access to the Internet, you must repeat the activation process by going to activate.bc.edu using a web browser. Visitor Network Access provides access to the following services:
    1. Web browsing (including secure sites)
    2. Web email
    3. FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
    4. VPN (Virtual Private Network)
    5. SSH (Secure Shell)
    6. NTP (Network Time Protocol)

Related Help Links