Most network cards and operating systems will have no issue connecting to the new "Caltech Guest" and "Caltech Registered" wireless networks. However, in order to successfully connect and use the "Caltech BeaverNet" network, both the hardware and software will need to support WPA2-Enterprise with AES for encryption (i.e. full 802.11i support). Note that even if a wireless card or device states support for WPA2, it does not necessarily mean that it will support WPA2-Enterprise; it could simply mean that it supports WPA2-Personal or WPA2-PSK only. For instance, the specification for the Apple iPhone (and iPod Touch) states that it supports WPA2. However, that support is only limited to WPA2-Personal. The iPhone currently does not support WPA2-Enterprise; therefore, it cannot be used to connect to "Caltech BeaverNet".
In order to successfully connect to "Caltech BeaverNet", the following requirements and recommendations should be met.
| Operating System |
Recommended Software |
Recommended Hardware |
| Windows XP |
Requires Service Pack 2, plus patch 917021; note that Windows Update does not normally download patch 917021, so it needs to be downloaded and installed manually |
Wireless card supporting WPA2-Enterprise or 802.11i, with appropriate driver support |
| Windows 7 / Windows Vista | None | Wireless card supporting WPA2-Enterprise or 802.11i, with appropriate driver support |
| Mac OS X | Update 10.4.6 or higher | AirPort Extreme card or better |
| Linux | Kernel 2.4.x or 2.6.x with Linux Wireless Extensions v15 or higher (wext usually come pre-packaged with the distribution); wpa_supplicant | Wireless card supporting WPA2-Enterprise or 802.11i and is supported by the wext driver |