Changes to Wi-Fi connectivity at UAA

Dear UAA Community,

Wi-Fi connectivity at UAA and our community campuses has been periodically performing slowly, and Information Technology Services (ITS) has been working to identify the source of the issue.

What is the problem?
User will experience a delay while attempting to authenticate to any UAA Wi-Fi network (Anchorage, Kenai, Kodiak, Mat-Su and Prince William Sound) and virtual private network (VPN) connections, causing devices to take a long time to connect or timeout and not connect at all. The slowdown is most noticeable between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., Monday through Thursday. During this peak time, we have over 3,500 unique devices attached to the UAA Wi-Fi network in Anchorage alone. We have engaged with the vendor's support team and believe the issue is a result of resource constraints on our current authentication servers.

What steps are being taken?
In an effort to improve this experience, ITS is in the process of deploying additional resources to handle authentication requests going forward. These new resources should resolve the problem for the Anchorage, Kenai, Kodiak, Mat-Su and Prince William Sound campuses.

What does this mean for you?
Starting Friday, Jan. 24, when you attempt to connect to any UAA Wi-Fi network or connect through UAA's VPN service, you will be prompted to accept a new security certificate. This could be alarming, which is why we are notifying you ahead of time.

On Windows 10 we have taken steps to prevent users on UAA devices from experiencing this, but personal devices will receive a prompt.

For more information about connecting to UAA Wi-Fi from your device, view the links below.

• Android
• iOS
• MacOS
• Windows

As always, if you have a concern or you run into an issue connecting your device to any UAA Wi-Fi network, you can contact the ITS Technical Support Center at 907-786-4646 or by opening a support ticket at the Seawolf Tech Portal.

Sincerely,
Beverly Shuford
Vice Chancellor for Administrative Services

January Archive