Residence halls experience problems with UNC network

“Validate the Agent” is a phrase most students living in residence halls have seen at least once, and for some it’s the start of a reoccurring computer problem that has plagued residence halls for more than a year.

The phrase comes from the computer program that guards the University’s network — or Network Access Control. The assessment component of NAC was installed in all residence halls last year.

It scans computers for up-to-date anti-virus programs, firewalls and file-sharing programs.

Depending on the results of the scan, the computer might be quarantined from the network.

But some users in residence halls are repeatedly brought to a website that prompts them to either install or run NAC, and become stuck in a loop, unable to access the internet.

Junior Isaac Marsh said he had this problem constantly last year, and that it still occurs this year, though less often.

“It was awful,” Marsh said. “It would always pop up.”

He said that after becoming stuck in the loop, NAC would eventually start working again after a few minutes or a few hours, he said.

“I just started going to different places on campus to get internet,” he said.

ITS officials said these problems persist because students aren’t reporting their issues with NAC.

Chris Williams, manager of ResNET, said his department only receives one or two help tickets about NAC per week, but has heard anecdotal accounts of repeated issues.

“It drives me crazy,” Williams said. “If we could get students to report that right when it happens, that would really help us to gather the data we need.”

Sophomore Cassie Usry said she has had problems with NAC, but hasn’t reported her problems because NAC eventually fixes itself.

“I’m just tired of dealing with it,” she said.

Ryan Turner, the network specialist in charge of NAC, said most issues associated with the program are caused by factors other than NAC itself, such as personal router settings.

Turner said if the settings on a router are not configured properly when first set up, it can cause problems with NAC.

He said that if students have any problems with NAC, they should immediately contact ResNET or call (919) 962-4357.

“The service is so complex that unless we actually talk to the end users that are experiencing this problem, it’s really difficult to actually pin down the issue,” he said.

Turner said he’s heard anecdotal evidence of other problems, such as when computers connect to both wired and wireless internet connections, but does not have enough data to troubleshoot these problems.

Turner added that if issues are reported by enough people and a problem is found with the program, he can update NAC to solve the problem.

“People talk about bugs,” he said. “The upgrades to the agent are the things that fix the bugs.”

He said users should download these optional updates to fix some of the problems.

Jim Gogan, director of network systems, said his department is unable to anticipate all the issues with NAC because of the number of different devices connecting to the network.

He said the addition of devices like printers, iPads and smartphones have complicated how NAC works.

“Even though there are only about 8,000 students in the residence halls, we see close to 25,000 different network devices in the residence halls getting connected,” he said.

Contact the University Editor at university@dailytarheel.com.