What you need to do

Follow these steps:

• Note your computer network adaptor hardware (MAC) address
• Fill in and submit the network form
• Wait for a confirmation e-mail from Physics IT Support

You will receive an automated confirmation e-mail shortly after submitting the form, followed later by an e-mail from Physics IT Support advising of your new IP address. IP address assignment is automatic so after receiving the second e-mail reboot your computer and it should obtain its new IP address. For manual assignment refer to the Network settings page for details such as gateway routers and subnet masks.

How do I find my MAC address?

Choose an operating system:

• Windows 95/98

• Windows NT (NT/2000/XP)

• MacOS Open Transport

• Linux

Windows NT (NT/2000/XP)

Run the IPCONFIG /ALL command from a CMD or COMMAND shell and you will see output like this which includes your MAC address:

MacOS Open Transport

From the Apple Menu choose Control Panels and select TCP/IP from the drop down menu. When the TCP/IP dialogue opens choose Get Info from the File menu and a window displaying your MAC address will appear:

Linux

Run the ifconfig command from a shell to see your MAC address. Typically you will want the MAC address from the primary network interface called, eth0:

What's an IP address?

For your computer to communicate with other computing resources in Physics and on the Internet it needs a unique address with which it can identify itself on the network. This is called an Internet Protocol (IP) address.

What's a MAC address?

MAC stands for Medium Access Control and has little to do with Macintosh computers. The MAC address is hard coded into your network card. We need your MAC address because we use DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) with static IP address assignment, and for that to work the DHCP server must know your MAC address.

For more information on IP and MAC addresses please refer to the TCP/IP FAQ provided by Communications Unit.

Connection types

There are two types of network connections available in Physics as summarised below.

Coax

This is an older Ethernet connection, also known as 10base2. It can be identifed by a run of black or beige cable which ends in a metallic BNC connector afixed to a "t-piece". The cable usually terminates at the network device or runs back to another wall outlet or coax chain. Using coax does not require a port activation. The bandwidth for coax cable on campus is a theoretical 10Mb/s (you may get considerably less in reality). It is strongly suggested that UTP (see below) is used in preference to coax since the Old Main and Newton Building coax infrastructures will be decommissioned in the near future, probably some time before the new millennium (2001).

UTP

Unshielded twisted pair is another network connection type. Otherwise known as 10baseT or 100baseT it consists of a run of blue cable terminated at both ends by transparent plastic RJ45 connectors. This is a point to point connection with one end being plugged into a wall outlet and the other being plugged into your computer network card. At present the theoretical maximum bandwidth available is 100Mb/s but this requires your computer to have a 100Mb/s capable network card. If the UTP wall socket that you wish to connect your computer to does not have a bright orange sticker next to then you will need to request a port activation (see the network form).

Which UTP network card?

We suggest the following card(s) for personal computers or single user workstations:

• NE2000 compatible 100Mb/s UTP