Important Notice:  UTS does not provide support for the devices or configurations outlined below.  When troubleshooting the network connection at the residence halls, UTS will ask you to connect your computer or Supported Device directly to the port on the wall.  The information provided below will assist you in configuring your devices.  However, technical support from your device's vendor may be required.  UTS reserves the right, without prior notification to the user, to disable any improperly configured device causing disruptions on the network.

Home-based switches and routers help you connect more then one device to the FIU network at the residence halls.  UTS does not provide support for these devices as noted above.  If you need to connect another device to the network, first try to find an additional network port in your dorm or try sharing the network ports that are available.  However, if you decide to configure a home-based switch or broadband router, please refer to the notes below for configuration guidelines.

Switches and Hubs

Home-based switches and hubs often require little or no configuration.  You must, however, make certain that your device is not running any type of trunking, etherchannel or any other type of layer-2 protocol.  You must also make certain that only one port on your switch, hub, or router is connected to the network wall outlet.  Connecting two or more wall outlets to your device could cause your device to be disabled.

Wireless Routers

Home-based routers, in general, will not work when connected to the FIU network.  This is because they abstract your computer from the network preventing the proper access to be granted to your network device.  However, most home-based routers have an advanced option which allows you to configure it in "gateway mode" allowing traffic to flow through it as if it were a switch.  Below are some instructions on how to configure some common home-based routers.  If you do not find your particular router below, it might be necessary to contact your product's vendor to get specific instructions on how to configure it.   Please note that that if an improperly configured device is causing disruptions to the network, it will be disabled without prior notification to the user.

 

• General Set-up for routers that do not support "gateway mode."

  If your device does not support "gateway mode," there might be a work-around.  Please make sure that you understand all instructions provided below before proceeding.  Improperly configuring your device could render it inaccessible by you and could potentially cause disruptions to the FIU network.  Do not continue if you are unsure how to make the changes described below.

   

  • Disconnect all network cables from your router.
     
  • Go to your router's advance configuration and disable the DHCP server.  Do not confuse this with the Obtain IP address using DHCP or Obtain IP address automatically option.  The DHCP server is the service which provides IP addresses to clients on the LAN side of your router.  This option usually contains IP address start and stop ranges.  If you can not disable the DHCP server on your router, you may not use the router on the FIU network.
     
  • Make a note of your router' s local administration IP address and network.  This address will usually be 192.168.0.1, 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.2.1.  You will have to give your computer a static IP address on this network in order to reconfigure the router in the future.
     
  • Connect the Ethernet wire from the wall outlet to port number one on the LAN section of your router.  Routers will usually have one WAN (Wide Area Network) port and three or four LAN (Local Area Network) ports.  On this configuration, nothing will ever get connected to the WAN port on your router.
     
  • Connect your computer and other network devices to the remaining LAN ports on your router.  Review the Other Devices link for information on how to register your non-computer devices.