Apple iPads are happily connecting to Cornell's wireless network. Contrary to a misunderstanding recently spread by bloggers, the tablet computers have not been banned from the university's RedRover wireless service.

"The helpdesk has received some general questions from people trying to connect their iPads, but it's all standard end-user support, the same as connecting an iPhone or a laptop," said Steve Schuster, interim executive director of Cornell Information Technologies (CIT). Whatever problems arise have to do with the way the user is attempting to connect, he said, and not with Cornell's infrastructure. So far about 70 iPads are registered and using RedRover, he said.

The misunderstanding began when several schools across the country reported problems with iPad connections. In response to a query, Schuster told a Wall Street Journal reporter that CIT was testing and diagnosing "problems that might be occurring," Schuster said.

The Wall Street Journal reported, "The tablet … is having difficulty being accepted at George Washington University and Princeton University because of network stability issues. Cornell University also says it is seeing connectivity problems with the device and is concerned about bandwidth overload."

Almost immediately, several bloggers announced, "The iPad has been banned at Cornell, Princeton and George Washington University," and that message was copied and repeated with variations.

Princeton has issued a statement saying that the iPad has not been "banned," but that it had issued an alert that some iPads might have connectivity problems, and those that did malfunction would be blocked from the network. George Washington University simply said that the devices will not work on its network.

Cornell's RedRover wireless service is available in about 150 buildings across campus, and often outdoors near some buildings. The first time a Wi-Fi enabled device attempts to connect to the service, the user is asked to register with a Cornell NetID and password. Once a device is registered, the network remembers its hardware address and allows future connections. Temporary guest access is also available.

CIT recommends that Cornell users choose to connect via RedRover Secure, which encrypts all transactions. Information traveling over any standard Wi-Fi service can be intercepted and read by others. "In my opinion any Cornell business traffic should use RedRover Secure," Schuster said.

Instructions for connecting to RedRover will be found at http://www.cit.cornell.edu/services/redrover/howto/rr/index.cfm. Instructions for connecting an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad to RedRover Secure are at http://www.cit.cornell.edu/services/redrover/howto/setup/rrssetupiphone.cfm.