It can be hard to know ahead of time what tech will or won’t be useful in college, so I’m here to share some tips. I’ll be giving general advice on different tech that you may find useful as a college student as well as going over specific devices that can (and can’t) be used on St. Norbert College WiFi.
The Basics
For the very basic things that you’ll want to bring with for college, be sure to have a computer that you can use for your classwork. It is expected for all students to have access to a laptop while attending SNC. Here are some laptop recommendations if you are looking to purchase a new one. If you need to purchase a laptop, you are able to apply the cost of a laptop to your Cost of Attendance once during your time at SNC. This won’t mean that the cost is covered by St. Norbert, but it will be taken into consideration for student loans. Please contact the Financial Aid Office for more information.
Other than a laptop, you will find there are still a few more things that would be really helpful to have. Some of these would be an extension cord, HDMI cord, and flash drives. While these aren’t required there are many times where having these items are helpful. HDMI cords allow you to connect your computer to various screens on campus. While many locations have HDMI cords for you to use, some areas like dorm buildings have TVs that you need to use your own HDMI cord to connect to. I also highly recommend bringing headphones and a mouse with you. The mouse is optional, but as someone who always uses a mouse with my laptop I really appreciated bringing one with me for working on classwork.
While devices that aren’t supported will be covered later, I wanted to note that I don’t recommend bringing your own printer. There are printers on campus that allow you to print in color, as well as access to the print center for large printing. Each student has a printing budget they’re allocated each semester which allows for roughly 200-350 pages to be printed. I have found it nearly impossible to run out of my printing budget in any given semester, so I highly recommend using the school printing system instead of buying a printer. For more information on printing at SNC visit this page.
Other Devices
Devices supported on the network include gaming consoles, Amazon Echo, Apple TV (except for Airplay), and Roku devices. The full list of devices can be found here. Roku devices will work; however, the option to use your phone as a remote doesn’t work. You will need to register each device you wish to use our WiFi. To register these devices, navigate to a web browser on the device you wish to register. You will then go to wifi.snc.edu to register your device and properly access the internet. If the device doesn’t have a web browser, access this page from a computer or phone that has an internet connection to properly register your device.
Some devices that aren’t supported on the network include Google Chromecast, Google Home devices, HomePod Mini, IP telephones, smart lights, Sonos speakers, and wireless printers. The full list of unsupported devices can be found here. The general case with most devices that aren’t supported is that the device depends on device-to-device communication over WiFi to function. This is not allowed on our network for security reasons.
TV Access through SpectrumU
St. Norbert College allows access to SpectrumU, a TV and video streaming platform, for free to all students. You are able to use SpectrumU from a Roku, Apple TV, mobile device, or laptop. On Apple TVs and mobile devices, the app is titled SpectrumU, but on a Roku it will be titled Spectrum TV. To use SpectrumU from your laptop, visit watch.spectrum.net. For any other smart TV or regular TV, you can connect your laptop to the TV using an HDMI cord and visit the website. No login is necessary as long as you are on the WiFi network called “snc”. You can visit snc.edu/network to check if you are on the network and will be able to access SpectrumU.
If you need help getting SpectrumU set up on your device or questions on specific devices, please contact the ITS service desk for assistance. The email contact is servicedesk@snc.edu. If you are having issues specific to the platform and not to getting it working please look to Spectrum’s assistance. Linked here is a starting off point from SpectrumU to try to answer problems you may encounter.
Feel free to reach out the ITS Service Desk about questions on specific devices. You can contact them at 920-403-4040 or servicedesk@snc.edu
