The SLAC Visitor Network
Last updated: February 28, 2014

The visitor network is a SLAC owned network (a subnet of SLAC owned IP addresses) which is outside the SLAC network firewall. Users connected to it are treated as if they were on any commercial or public ISP and will be assigned, via DHCP, a 198.129.n.n IP address. Because you are outside the firewall  you should consider your connection very insecure. It is the responsibility of users of the Visitor network to protect their communications, e.g. by using a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

The visitor network is meant for light casual use and to provide an easy network connection for SLAC visitors, collaborators, conference/meeting attendees, vendor demonstration etc. Do not place mission critical applications on the Visitor network.

About the visitor network

• Connect by using Ethernet or with a wireless laptop connection. All wireless networking at SLAC is on the visitor network.

• The visitor network is available in selected SLAC conference and meeting rooms and in areas supporting wireless networking.

• Set your  laptop network configuration for DHCP. There are no static or assigned IP addresses available. A DHCP server  will provide your laptop with the necessary network  information e.g. IP address, gateway address, and DNS  addresses. 

• To connect to the visitor network for the first time you will need to open a web browser and attempt to connect to any normal internet web site (we suggest http://www.slac.stanford.edu). If your browser was already running, you may have to hit the "refresh" button.
  
  You will be redirected to a portal web page that provides basic information about the SLAC Visitor Network and asks you to provide some information about yourself. The purpose of asking you for this information is so that SCCS can locate you in the event that your computer has a virus or causes problems with the network.  Re-registration is required if a device is not seen on the network for more than 2 weeks.
  
  Before you can proceed to the internet, you will need to agree to the SLAC Acceptable Use Agreement regarding network use. After you agree, your system will be given regular internet access. Be aware that this includes not running applications that open many connections such as  a SKYPE supernode. If your host on the visitor network is detected as generating a lot of connections it will be put in a penalty box that limits all users in the penalty box to a maximum aggregate of 56kbps.

• To access resources made available only to the SLAC interior network(134.79.nn.nn), use VPN, SSH, WTS.

• To print from the Visitor's subnet see Printing at SLAC

• Support for the visitor network is on a best effort basis. If a problem is reported we will try to address the issue in a timely fashion. Priority for addressing problems will naturally go to networks which are more critical to the SLAC mission:

  • Networking problems should be reported via email to net-admin@slac.stanford.edu. See Reporting Network Problems at http://www.slac.stanford.edu/comp/net/problem-reporting.html for the type of information to report.
    • Since the visitor network does not have mission critical applications (see above), there is usually no support for the visitor subnet outside normal working hours.
    • If you are in the Guest House and you are using wireless (see Wireless Networking at SLAC at http://www2.slac.stanford.edu/comp/net/wireless/default.htm) you may try to eliminate a potential wireless problem by connecting to the wired network in
  • For other help you should contact your  Desktop Administrator or see your SLAC sponsor if you are a visitor to SLAC.
     
• For more information on the visitor network policies see: Network Policies

Owner: Les Cottrell. URL: http://www2.slac.stanford.edu/comp/net/wireless/visitor_net.htm