• You must be running Windows 98/ME/2000/XP. Linux and Macintosh systems will also work. WINDOWS 95 WILL NOT WORK!
• Your computer must have an Ethernet card
• The Ethernet card must be configured correctly for your Operating System
• The network connection for this card must be enabled
• You must have an Ethernet patch cable (CAT5). Phone cables will not work.
• This cable must be plugged directly from your computer into the wall jack. DO NOT USE ANY HUBS, SWITCHES OR WIRELESS ACCESS POINTS. THEY WILL NOT WORK.
• Your computer must be virus and spy/adware free. CLEAN YOUR SYSTEM BEFORE CONNECTING TO THE NETWORK! IF IT IS INFECTED YOU WILL HAVE PROBLEMS!!!

Check to make sure that your Ethernet card is installed and all drivers and software is configured correctly. This varies depending on the Operating System you are using.

Plug one end of the Ethernet patch cable into the network port on your computer and the other end into the network jack in your room. DO NOT use a phone cable - it will not work! Ethernet cables are available for purchase at the College Book Store or you may get one at several retail stores in the area.

Most network cards have a link and activity light. If your card is working the link light on your network card should light up when you plug into the wall jack. If it does not light up check your cable and connections. There are multiple jacks in each room. Some are phone jacks so make sure you have the correct one. Try each jack until you get a link light.
 

When you move into your room check the wall jacks. If your network or phone jacks are damaged inform Residential Housing immediately otherwise you may be charged for their repair.

Once your network card is working correctly and you are plugged into the wall jack you should be able to connect to the network. Once connected your computer will be quarantined until it passes several policy tests.
 

B. Troubleshooting steps:

1. I'm prompted to reinstall the policy key over and over.
2. Sometimes I'm able to get to the internet OK but other times I cannot.
3. The policy key will not completely install completely.
4. I'm using America On-Line to browse the internet but it is not working.
5. I'm not prompted to logon or install the policy key.

Symptom: The Welcome Screen will come back again and again even after the policy key install sequence seems to have been completed successfully.

Possible Cause: Your machine is behind a NAT device, such as a wireless router.

Possible Solution: Remove the wireless access point. NAT devices are not supported.

Possible Cause: A firewall is installed between your machine and the network and does not allow the policy key to be installed. Even if an install succeeds, the firewall may block the policy keys ability to communicate status to the network appliance, resulting in multiple downloads. Microsoft AntiSpyWare can also cause this problem if it is blocking Policy.exe from starting automatically.

Possible Solution: Software firewalls, such as SP2 for Windows XP, will bring up a flag during the agent install requesting a decision to allow or deny the Impulse Agent's access. Microsoft AntiSpyWare will also prompt to block policy.exe from starting. You must select allow for the system to work correctly. Additionally, for some firewalls, it will be necessary to configure them to allow communication with specific hosts. In this case, configure the firewall to allow communication to IP addresses: 172.17.200.1 and 172.17.200.2.

Possible Cause: You have an old version of the Policy Key installed or the Policy Key did not install correctly.

Possible Solution: Use Windows Control Panel to uninstall the Policy Key. Once it is uninstalled, restart your computer and open a standard web browser, like Internet Explorer, Netscape, Firefox. This should result in a prompt to authenticate or install the policy key.

Symptom: Intermittent functionality. Problems such as incomplete policy key installs, messages like policyKey.exe invalid, intermittent connections, policyKey.exe does not show up in task manager after installation, prompt for policyKey download is never received, authentication page is displayed but access beyond the authentication page does not occur.

Possible Cause: Your computer is infected with spyware, virus or worm. Absence of anti spyware protection on a machine will allow spyware to install itself and start using machine resources for its own purpose. That in turn will affect the machine performance to a point where it cannot maintain normal operation and appears sluggish, have lots of unsolicited pop-ups even when not browsing and can have browsers redirected to sites which were not selected (hijacked). Additionally symptoms may include: web browser, IM, email clients won't start, or if they start, die within seconds. The browser may open but cannot load web pages and/or is flashing multiple URLs in the browser's info bar.

Possible Solution: Install and scan the machine with a known spyware agent and anti-virus solution before attempting additional Impulse installs.

Symptom: Partial policy key installs or automatic update fails, sometimes necessitating multiple reinstalls.

Possible Cause: You are getting spotty wireless connection that overrides the wired connection. Windows computers that have both wireless and wired connection options typically give precedence to wireless connections, even if connected to a wired source via Ethernet cables. Only if wireless is manually disabled or absolutely no reception is present will the wired connection prevail. The subsequent result in areas of low wireless signal will be a very slow system, which may not be able to download the 5MB agent successfully or cause timeouts during the transmission.

The policy key may also have died or never have started properly which can be verified in the task manager. Often you will receive a Microsoft error dialogue during the install process, or may later receive a notice like "policyKey.exe is not a valid Windows image," and the policy key fails when it tries to start.

Possible Solution: Disable wireless and install the policy key on a wired connection.

Symptom: Users of the AOL browser cannot access the Internet after Impulse is turned on.

Possible Cause: AOL uses a tunnel to transfer data, and the Impulse system requires http (port 80) traffic to recognize a user.

Possible Solution: AOL users should first open a standard web browser, like Internet Explorer, Netscape, Firefox, etc. You will be asked to directly download and install, the Impulse Policy Key. Once the policy key is installed, Impulse will check your computer for compliance with the MHC's internet access policy.
If your system is in compliance with school policy, Impulse will allow unrestricted Internet access within seconds of installation. In this case, you may then open up AOL, or any other browser, and browse freely with no further interaction from Impulse. If your system is out of compliance and the policy dictates denial of Internet access, you will have to make their system compliant before AOL or Internet access will be permitted.

Symptom: You cannot access the network.

Possible Cause: If you are the network from a network from the residence halls and you have not installed a policy key or opened a browser, the system will not recognize you, which will cause the system to block your network access.

Possible Solution: Open a standard web browser, like Internet Explorer, Netscape, Firefox. This should result in a prompt to authenticate or install the policy key.

Possible Solution: You are not plugged into the network jack in your room. Verify that your Ethernet cable is in the correct wall jack (one is for the network and the other is for a telephone).  Most computer network ports have two LED lights, one for 'Link" and the other for "Activity". If you have a good connections these lights will be on (either steady or blinking). Open a standard web browser, like Internet Explorer, Netscape, Firefox. This should result in a prompt to authenticate or install the policy key.

Possible Solution: You are using a telephone cable instead of an Ethernet cable. TELEPHONE CABLES WILL NOT WORK.  Ethernet cables have eight wires and normally have CAT5 written somewhere on the insulating sleeve. Verify you have a real Ethernet cable then open a standard web browser, like Internet Explorer, Netscape, Firefox. This should result in a prompt to authenticate or install the policy key. Most computer network ports have two LED lights, one for 'Link" and the other for "Activity". If you have a good connections these lights will be on (either steady or blinking).

Possible Solution: Your computer's network card is not functioning or is not installed correctly. Check with your computer vendor. The MHC ITS department cannot work on your computer!