Penn State's Housing and Food Services provide every student living in the residence halls one Ethernet connection to directly access the University's network. Students who own a computer and reside in the residence halls must register for an Ethernet connection to use e-mail and network and Internet resources from their rooms. The following are needed to get connected; a Penn State Access Account, a computer, an Ethernet card and Ethernet cable.

The Pennsylvania State University Residential Computing (ResCom) program provides free computer support to residence hall students at University Park campus. Commonwealth campuses provide their own version of support for residence hall students. All residence hall students use the ResCom Website to register for a network connection. ResCom operates five helpdesks at University Park campus located in Findlay, Pollock, Redifer, Waring, and Warnock Commons. Check the Website for hours of operation and the location of the nearest helpdesk at http://www.rescom.psu.edu/.

ResCom services are limited to Ethernet connectivity, hardware and software troubleshooting, virus and spyware removal, and component installations. Problems dealing with Penn State Access or e-mail accounts must be referred to ITS, which provides all Penn State account services, e-mail servers and ITS computer labs. However, if your Penn State Access Account is working (check this in a computer lab), but you’re still having problems accessing your e-mail, make an appointment with ResCom to help troubleshoot and resolve the issue.

Residence hall connections are individually limited to how much Internet bandwidth (traffic your computer generates or receives from the Internet) they can consume per week. Details on this and acceptable network use are defined in the Housing Connection Agreement http://www.rescom.psu.edu/pages/connectionagreement.htm.

Request an Internet Connection

There are 4 steps to getting a connection in your room. Go to the ResCom Web site and follow the link "Internet connection setup" http://www.rescom.psu.edu/. You perform step 4 just before you pack up your computer to come to campus. If you do all the steps correctly, it will work when you arrive on campus.

ResCom Contact Information

For assistance with questions and problems related to your residence hall Internet connection, please visit the ResCom website at http://www.rescom.psu.edu/, or contact the ResCom Desk located in your residence hall commons area:

Findlay - East Halls: 865-2942
Pollock - Pollock Halls: 865-2944
Redifer - South: 865-2938
Waring - West Halls: 865-2948
Warnock - North Halls: 865-2946

At locations other than University Park, contact your local Residential Computing or ResTech office at http://www.rescom.psu.edu/pages/cwccontacts.htm.

This page is part of Your Guide to Information Technology @ Penn State.