Information Services

RESLAN FAQs - Services

What services can I expect to get?

The main aim of RESLAN is to provide all its users with a fast, secure IT environment in which to pursue their academic studies. As such, the very least you can expect will be access to the Campus network. In order to protect the wider University, its staff and students from being compromised through computer misuse, however, the University has had to bar some types of Internet connectivity which it sees as providing security loop-holes. Such restrictions should have no effect whatsoever on the pursuit of your academic studies.

The following list of services are currently permitted, provided you have appropriate software on your system, but the University does reserve the right to change this list if need arises:

• File Transfer
• Telnet
• Secure Shell (SSH)
• Email (SMTP & IMAP)
• Secure email (SSMTP & SIMAP)
• World Wide Web access
• News (but only access to the chargeable news service, news.individual.net)
• VoIP (Skype, Tesco Internet Phone)
• MSN messenger **
• AOL messenger **
• Yahoo Chat **

** Please note that, whilst services such as MSN, AOL and Yahoo are permitted, Information Services cannot guarantee that you will be able to receive the full range offered, and this is especially true of video services. Although due in part to the security measures in place to avoid hacking attempts, it is also partly due to the fact that these companies frequently change their settings. In the past, we have found that students in study bedrooms have had more success with running the video services via Yahoo rather than MSN, but of course this could change at any time.

Will my webcam work?

Sadly, as a major academic institution, we are bombarded constantly with hacking attempts, which typically target those very ports that are used by webcams.

Cardiff University offers academic network connection points in study bedrooms, provided primarily as a study aid.  As such, our priority is to offer a secure, academic computing environment for all our students.  In order to achieve this we are unable to offer unrestricted Internet access in rooms but have to block those ports which pose a security threat.

Unfortunately, this may well mean that your webcam will not work from your room (although Yahoo users have had the most success and MSN has proven to be the most problematic).  You should be aware that even though your webcam may work initially, it may not always do so.  This is because external companies very often change their settings (sometimes without warning) and of course such matters are outside the control of Cardiff University.

Will I be able to watch television via my computer?

Video that streams through a browser (such as YouTube) should work from a RESLAN connection. 

However, services that require an external program to view video (such as the BBC's iPlayer) will not work as they utilise peer-2-peer protocols which are blocked by the RESLAN firewall.

Will I be able to listen to foreign radio stations?

This should be possible, although you may have to configure your PC for this to work. Note that there are no intentionally blocked radio stations.

Will I be able to use Skype?

Information Services does not offer support for the use of Skype, however it should be possible for it to work within RESLAN.  We have done some limited testing on Skype to Skype calls, and this works fine

Will I be able to play online games?

As with webcams, sadly the very ports that need to be open in order to play many games are those that are targeted by the very many hacking attempts we encounter constantly. 

Cardiff University prides itself on being able to offer academic network connection points in study bedrooms, and these are provided primarily as a study aid. As such, our priority is to offer a secure, academic computing environment for all our students. In order to achieve this we are unable to offer unrestricted Internet access in rooms but have to block those ports which pose a security threat. If you are able to play some games, then we do not want to stop you, as we recognise many people get much enjoyment from doing so. However, we are unable to open any additional ports specifically for that purpose.

Can I use my games console on a RESLAN connection?

Unfortunately, no. Cardiff University prides itself on being able to offer academic network connection points in study bedrooms, and these are provided primarily as a study aid. As such, our priority is to offer a secure, academic computing environment for all our students. In order to achieve this we are unable to offer unrestricted Internet access in rooms but have to block those ports which pose a security threat. 

Can I connect to a computer on the RESLAN network?

No, connections from external machines are blocked.

Can I access the network printers?

No. Because of the nature of our printing service, you will not be able to access any network printers from a RESLAN connection.
More information on the University printing service is available.

Are P2P applications restricted?

 ALL P2P sites are blocked from the RESLAN network.

Please note that if you do attempt to access a P2P application your request will be intercepted and you will not be able to access the internet for one hour.

This policy is not aimed at restricting  legitimate academic investigation, therefore if  you believe you have a legitimate academic reason for using  a P2P application from the RESLAN network please contact your course tutor to seek approval who will forward the request on your behalf.