Before Dartmouth students will even be able to sit on the Green without a jacket this year, they will be able to send BlitzMail messages while comfortably perched from the central quad.
Beginning in April, the College will have a major wireless network in place, allowing students untethered access to BlitzMail and the Internet campus-wide.
"I really think that wireless networks are essentially the next infrastructure for computing," said Dave Kotz '86, professor of computer science. "They allow you to do your computing everywhere."
Possible uses for this technology -- which will cost the College approximately $ 300,000 -- include a way of monitoring the length of the lines at dining halls, Web Blitz for handheld computers and a locator to find friends on campus, according to Kotz and CS Major Arun Mathias '01.
Dartmouth would be the first Ivy to have such an extensive network, according to a College press release.
Wireless access is already available in a few places around campus on an experimental basis, according to Director of Computing Larry Levine. In fact, he said, the success of these experiments in terms of technical compatibility and ease of use were one of the reasons the project has moved ahead so quickly.
Experimental wireless zones are operating in parts of Collis, Baker tower including the Green and the reserve corridor.
Other applications for the wireless network are being worked on by the Dartmouth software development group The Basement and by senior computer science students.
Possibilities include remote monitoring of experiments, a redesigned classroom, and voice conversations between users. One idea is for a reminder service that will take in to account how far a user is from his appointment.
The project will cost the College only about $300,000, according to Levine. Much of the cost of the network, including around a quarter of the equipment, is being funded by alumni.
Many of these alumni work for Cisco Systems, the company that will provide most of the equipment for the network.
Cisco has the highest level of encryption available for wireless internet cards, according to Kotz, which should answer any security concerns. Their cards, which are compatible for Macintosh and PCs, should be available through Computing Services for less than $100.
