Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Requests for DNS names are made through the Help Desk or a quick ticket in FootPrints.  DNS requests received by end of business Monday and Wednesday will be processed on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Requests received after 5 p.m. on Monday or Wednesday will be processed on the following Tuesday or Thursday.  Emergency requests will be evaluated by management. 

**Requests for a DNS name can be made in advance of installation as it should be part of the system documentation.  So if you are aware of an upcoming application, server, printer, etc., make your request at the same time you place your order.

All name requests will be reviewed by the network team and/or management.

**Emergency requests for DNS entries will be handled as best effort and it’s important to remember that local/intranet updates for DNS happen almost immediately however, on the Internet a new DNS entry will take approximately 24 hours or longer to propagate for off-campus users.  Please plan accordingly.

The short answer is no. Like static IPs, it’s very rare that a computer, laptop or certain handheld device actually needs a DNS name.  DNS names or entries are used only for servers, printers, appliances, and applications.  Running server software or applications on desktop computers is a bad idea and can lead to security breaches and loss of personal data.  A non-standard or unapproved software or applications can also become an unsupportable production environment meaning neither the client who installed or the ITS department can support their existing environment.

Our goal is to provide USD with reliable networking everyday and to do so means periodic maintenance. We try and schedule outages when as few people as possible are affected. Currently, we schedule routine wired and wireless maintenance every Thursday morning 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.  This window is routine maintenance but there are times when critical updates or repairs will need to be done outside the Wednesday window but we will always attempt to schedule outage when fewer people are affected.

SecureConnect is a project at the University of San Diego (USD) to provide encrypted wireless Internet access to current students, staff, and faculty.  Users of SecureConnect will not be prompted to log on each time, as they have to with the ‘usd’ network.

SecureConnect is comprised of three components: XpressConnect by CloudPath Networks from www.cloudpath.net , SecureW2 from www.securew2.com and USD wireless network “usdsecure”. 

You can install the software by going to: https://secureconnect.sandiego.edu/  

Follow the prompts and enter your MySanDiego username and password. A one-time reboot of the computer is required for Windows Machines.

The software for SecureConnect only needs to be installed one time on the computer.  If you need assistance or have questions, please contact the ITS Help Desk at (619) 260-7900 (extension 7900 from on campus phones), by email at help@sandiego.edu, or by visiting UC 117.

The person who has administrator rights on the laptop can access and install the software from any location, on or off campus, by going to:

https://secureconnect.sandiego.edu/

Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2 or SP3, MAC OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or MAC OS X 10.5 (Leopard), and iPhone.

Currently, SecureConnect will only work on supported operating systems to automatically configure your computer.  If you are using Linux or another device that supports WPA and 802.1X, you can try the following manual settings:

• SSID: usdsecure
• Encryption: WPA-TKIP
• Username:   MySanDiego account
• Password:  MySanDiego password

Note:  These settings are provided for informational purposes only. These operating systems and devices will not be supported by ITS.

For installation, you must use one of the following:

Internet Explorer 6 or 7, Firefox 1.5, 2.0, or 3.0, Safari 2 or 3.

After installation all web browsers are supported.

No. Guests to the university will continue to use our ‘usdguest’ wireless network.

If the login page is blue, your computer is still connecting to the ‘usd’ or ‘usdguest’ network. 

• For Windows XP users, right click the wireless icon in the system tray and choose “View Available Wireless Networks”.  Click on “Change Order of Preferred Networks”, then find and remove ‘usd’ and ‘usdguest’ from your list of networks you automatically connect to.
• For Windows Vista users, click on the wireless icon in the system tray and choose “Network and Sharing Center”.   Select “Manage Wireless Networks”, then find and remove ‘usd’ and ‘usdguest from the list.
• For Mac OS X users, click on your wireless icon (in the menu bar, near the clock) and choose “Open Network Preferences”.  Click the Advanced button, then select and remove ‘usd’ and ‘usdguest’ from the Preferred Networks list.

If the login page is white, it is the login page for SafeConnect.  If you are on an Apple computer and receive this login prompt every time you connect, you can install the optional SafeConnect tool for OS X.  You can download this optional tool at:

http://safeconnectweb.sandiego.edu/downloads/MacPolicyKeyInstaller.zip

“usdguest” - for users that do not have a MySanDiego username and password.  To access usdguest you must either have an access code provided by a sponsor or a valid credit card.

“usd” - for users that that have devices that do not support SecureConnect (802.1x) authentication such as TiVo, some handheld devices, departmental computers that are used by multiple people,  and devices that do not require full internet access. 

“usdsecure”- for the majority of users on campus who are the primary users of their computer.  You can only connect to usdsecure by using the SecureConnect tool (or by manually configuring your Linux computer/device).  Users of ‘usdsecure’ will not need to log in multiple times.