University Goes Wireless

At Drexel University, where every student has been required since 1983 to have a personal computer, plans are in the works to create a thoroughly wireless campus where computers can connect to the Internet from anywhere.

"Computing is convenience. To make it completely available to everyone, we can't be limited by wires hooked into wall plugs," university President Constantine Papadakis said of the plan announced Saturday.

Instead of having to plug into the university network by wire, laptop computers will use wireless adapter cards that cost $175 and transmit a radio signal, encrypted for privacy. The cards transmit to small antennas mounted around the campus.

Parts of the campus have been wireless since 1998. But under the new plan, the entire 46-acre campus will be covered by September, said John A. Bielec, university vice president for information resources and technology.

"You're not confined to just a classroom, or just a dorm room," Bielec said. "You can be watching a soccer game standing on the sidelines and be connected to the Internet."

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