A new secure wireless network planned by University Information Systems, which administrators had hoped would be in place early this month, will not be available for students until next semester due to technical difficulties, a UIS official said.

The new network, SaxaNet, will be more secure than the university’s current wireless network, HOYAS, because it will require users to submit their Net IDs and passwords for access. SaxaNet will be available in the same parts of campus as HOYAS, including most academic buildings and certain residence halls.

Beth Ann Bergsmark, a director at UIS, said that problems with developing the new network arose during its testing process. While attempting to connect laptop computers to SaxaNet during the network’s trial stage, UIS developers discovered a bug in the software of several new computer models that were released during the summer, rendering these models incompatible with the new network, Bergsmark said.

“We have found an incompatibility in one of the Intel chips that was a standard component of several newer laptop models,” she said.

UIS has been working with several computer companies, including Dell and Cisco Systems, to identify which security measure in SaxaNet caused the problem, Bergsmark said. She added that UIS is looking for possible solutions that would not require students who recently bought laptops to purchase new computer chips.

Bergsmark said that SaxaNet will not become available to students before next semester. She added that UIS decided to delay the network’s debut because of the possibility that students may have to replace incompatible Intel chips in order to access the network.

“We want to avoid rolling out a change so close to the holiday, last week of school, and final exam crunch so we decided earlier when we identified the problem to delay until the spring semester,” she said.

Kenny Stineman (COL ’10), who purchased her laptop in August, said that she would not like to have to replace her computer chip in order to access SaxaNet.

“It would be a hassle,” she said.

Stineman added that she would be much more open to replacing her chip if it meant being able to access the network throughout campus. HOYAS is not available in many of the university’s older residential buildings and certain public spaces around campus, including parts of Lauinger Library.

Bergsmark said that expanding wireless coverage has been identified as a priority in UIS’s five-year investment strategy plan. She added that UIS is looking into expanding wireless access to certain areas of campus, including Reiss Science Building and White Gravenor Hall.

“Right now we do not have funding to build out the wireless to cover the entire campus,” she said.

John Farrell (MSB ’09), said that UIS should be focusing on expanding coverage rather than making the university’s wireless network more secure.

“I don’t care if the network is secure,” he said. “I just want to be able to access it.”