One feature that has been requested with increasing frequency of late is the ability to log in to Windows laptops over a wireless connection, i.e. without plugging into a network cable the first time. We have been piloting a way to do this with our Circulation loaners and a wireless lab in MBH for several months now with good results.

We will be bringing this feature to standard College-owned Windows 7 laptops starting this Monday, June 6th. [UPDATE: the upgrade was successful.] After the change takes effect, you may notice the words “Windows will try to connect to MiddleburyCollege” underneath the normal login fields. What this means is that Windows will first use the credentials supplied to connect to the wireless network, and if successful, will then authenticate over the network, allowing you to login with your current username and password, whether or not you have used that device previously.

If the wireless connection should fail for some reason, for example because you are too far away from an access point for a good signal, Windows will check for cached credentials from a previous login as normal.

Please e-mail zschuetz@middlebury.edu with any questions about this change.

Sincerely,

~Zach Schuetz
Information Technology Services