on Today (~8:34 AM) we had a power outage.
Manual intervention was required, the dorms were back online around 09:03 AM.
Update: The outage also particularly affected a switch only relevant for the dorms in Pestalozzistraße 41 – since 4:10 PM this also is fixed, and everything should work again.
on On Friday, the working group, along with its new members, will visit our technology in the dorms in Hohenheim. We expect to arrive at Egilofstraße around 5 PM and from there, we will visit Welfenstraße and Schwerzstraße. Whether a short tour of the campus or a visit to our dorms at Chausseefeld is possible will be decided spontaneously.
If you would like to meet us, keep an eye out for a group of nerds – it’s safer to let us know in advance using the contact form (Join Us).
The reason for the tour is our new members from Tübingen and our first interested person from Hohenheim! Besides getting to know the locations, we hope to gain insights into the needs of the dorms, which we often view as “outlying areas.”
on 
From August 29 to September 1, 2024, SNT 2024 took place in Chemnitz. Unfortunately, the Netz-AK was represented by only one person, but they were able to bring back new ideas for our work. Networks from all over Europe participated, including AG DSN, Selfnet, StuStaNet, and many others.
A big thank you to the organizers from Chemnitzer StudentenNetz (CSN) for this successful event!
on Router: With a router, you can create your own small computer network in your dorm room, where your devices usually go online via Wi-Fi through your router. Your router is connected to a device called a switch, which is typically located in the basement of your dorm. This switch is usually directly connected to us at Fichtenweg 5 in Tübingen via fiber optic cable. From there, the connection goes to the Data Center of the University of Tübingen, and from there to BelWü and beyond. The term Internet is based on the interconnectivity between networks.
To communicate between devices on the Internet, they need to find each other. For this, there are IP addresses, which we can compare to phone numbers for this explanation. We have a limited number of these addresses and can provide each of you with one. Since nowadays you have more than one device that wants to go online at the same time, it would cause problems without a router.
Access Point: An access point is not a router and does not create its own network. An access point is an entry point for a network. The access point needs an IP address to function. We give you exactly one IP address. If you connect an access point in your room, it gets an IP address from us. A smartphone connected to the access point does not go online at first, and you can’t access the access point because they don’t know each other’s addresses. The access point usually does not ask for a new IP address and forgets the assigned one after a while. A device in the Wi-Fi of the access point, such as a smartphone, continuously asks for an IP address and gets one from us after a maximum of two minutes if the access point has no more IP addresses. Then the smartphone can go online. Your laptop, however, will not go online through the access point. Therefore, you need a router.
Range Extender: Range extenders increase the range of a Wi-Fi network and do nothing else. So, you can’t do much with a range extender; at best, it might work like an access point.
Important Note: If you unplug your router and connect a laptop directly to the network socket, please wait 2 minutes before assuming there is an error or doing further diagnostics. The limitation to one IP address per room has a timer of 60 seconds. After 2 minutes, you will definitely have a new IP address from us if your devices are configured correctly.
on On Thursday, April 18, starting around 6:30 PM, we will finally be able to equip our dormitories in Viktor-Renner-Straße with more modern technology.
For the residents, this means they will be able to use gigabit internet in their rooms afterwards.
For us as Netz-AK the upgrade also brings us major advantages in the management of our network. The switches that were previously installed in Viktor-Renner-Straße are the very last to not support various standard features and needed to be configured very differently from the rest of our infrastructure, hindering any automation efforts.
We expect the installation to take about 3 hours, meaning you will probably have unrestricted internet access again from 9:30 PM.
Update 2024-04-23: After we were initially only able to replace the switches at Viktor-Renner-Straße 2 last Thursday, we have completed all maintenance work at 4 today. If you still have problems with your internet, please contact us individually using our contact form! This is the only way we can identify the individual problems and help you effectively, because the sources of error can be very different.
As everywhere else in our network, the maximum number of IP addresses assigned in Viktor-Renner-Straße is now basically limited to 1 per connection. However, you don’t have to buy a new router now if, for example, you have previously operated a WiFi repeater and therefore need several IP addresses. For all such connections that we could identify, we have temporarily relaxed this restriction. Let us know if we missed one.
on First of all, it’s great that you’re here – welcome to the dorm and our volunteer-managed network.
If you’re new to the dorm, you’ll probably want to meet people. A good reason to start a conversation could be because you have a question – whether it’s about living, where to shop, or, likely why you’ve landed on this page, about accessing the internet from the dorm.
There’s internet in the dorm; it’s fast, and you don’t have to pay anything extra for it.
You can only get online in the rooms wirelessly through WiFi if you get yourself a WiFi router, which is what most people do. If you already own a router, make sure to read our guide on Wireless internet in your room. If you don’t have a router and are looking to buy one, I’ve just finished a blog post describing what I would do if I were faced with this task.
If you ever run into a problem or need help, don’t hesitate to write to us via the contact form. Please always use this form so we have all the information we need to help you quickly and efficiently.
Unfortunately, we can only help in German and English as a group, but in all communication, we advise you to use the language you speak best and not to use automatic translators. The quality of your German or English shows us what you might mean if you’re not well-versed in technology. If you send us a technically perfect text using AI, you will get a response that matches the level of your request, and it could unnecessarily complicate things if you’re not an expert.
Have fun and a pleasant time in the dorm!
Your Netz-AK (short for Netzwerk Arbeitskreis = Network Work-group)
on We replaced our hardware.
Most rooms should be working, some cables need an electrician.
Next step is to stop the leaking heating.
on The water is running through our electrical cabinet, some ports have already failed. Our hardware is now off the grid and will be scrapped.
We will set up new hardware later this evening and place it next to the cabinet in the dry.
on The rooms at Schimpf Eck (at Lustnauer Tor 1) now all have network sockets!
The only thing left to connect you to the dorm’s fiber-optic network is to lay down the fiber-optic cables. We’ll figure out who’s doing it and how it’s done. In the meantime, there’s a wireless connection.
The construction work for a proper wireless operation should be finished in November. Until then, we have a temporary solution for you.
We are working on getting everything done in September, so you can have some internet by the time the semester starts.
on On Tuesday the 15th of October [2019], we were informed that there are problems for people getting online in the afternoon.
The reason for this is simple. More than a few people were creating their own Wi-Fi by using repeaters and access points instead of routers.
To ensure everyone to be able to access the internet we are since today disabling the ports in the rooms that are hindering others to get online.
To get the port enabled again, please contact us by our contact form.
We need to know the kind of device you connected to your wall socket. Is it on this list?
Some people moved their devices from one blocked room to the next. This rooms have been blocked today (21th of October [2019]). Every room using more than one IP will be blocked.
As soon as you contact us and promise to not connect the the misconfigured device to our network again, you`ll be unblocked. This is necessary to ensure that everyone in the house has the possibility to get online.
Today (Sunday the 27th of October [2019]) we`ll unblock all the ports and see what happens. If you experience problems, please contact us.
Update: 26. October 2021 we had to deactivate rooms again.
We will replace our hardware soon. After that only routers will work and further problems will be prevented.
Update 27. October 7:45 am: We will replace our hardware this evening. All rooms will be activated again, but will not be online with their current setup.
Update 27. October 10:00 am: So far no one has contacted us!
Update 27 October 1:10 pm: Still no feedback, but since enough bad devices were removed from the wall socket, all rooms could be reactivated without currently endangering the network for the others.
Update 2:10 pm: Reactivating the rooms probably kicked the main network connection at 1:40 pm. If we don`t find a Hausmeister to restart the switch manually, the houses will be offline till we replace the hardware in the evening.
Update 5:50 pm: Leaving Tübingen.
Update 10:00 pm: Back in Tübingen, next try tomorrow.
Update 28th 10:20 pm: since 4:30 pm new hardware up and running