Ethernet card

In order to connect to the Pomona network, you'll need an ethernet port. While a new computer will almost certainly have one built in, older computers and ultra-lightweight laptops might not. Don't despair, though. If you need an ethernet port on your computer, you can buy an ethernet card. They usually run between $20 and $30.

• Laptops: Laptop owners need a PCMCIA ethernet card. These are flat pieces of hardware a little shorter and thicker than a financial check. Installation is fairly simple and does not require opening up your laptop or any kind of tools (basically you just push it into one of your 2 PCMCIA slots.
• Desktops: You need a PCI ethernet card. Unfortunately, installing a PCI card requires opening your computer's case. If you're not comfortable with this operation, try to find a tech-savvy friend you trust, or get some professional business like Best Buy to install it for you (although they'll charge you a large sum of money for a trivial service). Here's an example of a run-of-the-mill card that should serve you fine, although almost any brand should work.

If you have a laptop, you could also opt for a wireless card instead. However, most of the dorms do not have official wireless coverage, so we would strongly recommend that you make sure your laptop have a wired network card. Please look at our wireless networking page for more information about connecting to the wireless network and what type of card to buy.

What's this "10/100" business?

That refers to the transfer speed of the card. "10/100" means that the card is compatible with transfer speeds of both 10 Mbits/second and 100 Mbits/second. Some desktop network cards also support 1000 Mbit/second transfer speed ("10/100/1000" or "gigabit" cards), which just means that they can transfer 10 times as much data per second, provided that there's something that provide it at that speed. Most of Pomona is wired to support transfer speeds of up to 1000 Mbit/second, although a few older buildings only support 10 or 100 Mbit/second. However, since the fastest transfer speed you'll even get from the internet will be around 40 Mbit/second, a gigabit-level card is usually superfluous.