The University of Maryland wireless network provides University of Maryland faculty, staff, and students with wireless access to Internet resources without the need of a wired connection. The university's wireless network is one of the largest in the country with almost 3,600 access points providing convenient wireless access in almost all campus buildings, including every academic building and residence hall as well as the Stamp Student Union and McKeldin and Hornbake Libraries.

Secure Wireless
OIT currently provides two main wireless networks, "umd-secure" and "umd." The "umd-secure" network encrypts all wireless transmissions using WPA2/WPA technology. The "umd" network provides general access to the network for both campus users and guests and requires Web page authentication. "umd-secure" is the recommended means of accessing the wireless network. Please look here to learn how to configure your laptop to secure your network traffic. If your laptop or other wireless device doesn’t support WPA2/WPA you can still access the “umd” wireless network by launching a Web browser and signing in with your Directory ID and password.

Both the "umd-secure" and "umd" wireless networks are available on 802.11b/g and 802.11a frequencies. OIT recommends the use of 802.11a with equipment that supports it. 802.11a is generally faster than 802.11b/g because it does not have to support the older 802.11b protocol and there is less interference. 802.11a signals, however, do not travel as far, so at the fringe areas of the wireless network only 802.11b/g may be available.

Most new laptops support both 802.11a and 802.11b/g. However some software drivers, when presented with two networks having the same name, will only allow the user to select the 802.11b/g name. OIT also provides two additional wireless networks that only run on 802.11a, "umd-secure-fast" and "umd-fast." These networks provide identical functionality to "umd-secure" and "umd," respectively, they just do not run on the 802.11b/g frequencies. By using umd-secure-fast and umd-fast, users will be able to easily select just the 802.11a frequencies.

The table below shows the various University of Maryland wireless networks: