on On Sunday, November 2, 2025, starting at 8:15 PM, we will replace your network hardware with new equipment. This upgrade will provide you with Gigabit synchronous connectivity directly to your room.
The hardware replacement is expected to take approximately 2 hours, from 8:15 PM to 10:15 PM.
Update: We finished our work. If something is not working or you, contact us!
on On Sunday, November 2, 2025, starting at 4:00 PM, we will replace your network hardware with new equipment. This upgrade will provide you with Gigabit synchronous connectivity directly to your room.
The hardware replacement is expected to take approximately 1.5 hours, from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM.
Update: We finished our work. If something is not working or you, contact us!
on Around 12:10, one of the two switches at Fichtenweg 1 failed, causing most of the rooms to currently have no internet connection.
We are on our way to replace the switch.
Update: since 1:27 pm the house is online again. The priority to upgrade this house has been increased.
on Long awaited – this evening, we are upgrading the Geissweg to Gigabit. During the the work on the switches, the internet there won’t work.
We’ll update this site post as soon as we’re finished.
Update 8:06 PM: Everything back online – now 10x as fast!
on Some of you are kind enough to leave your router behind when you move out, so other students in the dorm can use it. Of course, these are not always the newest devices – sometimes we even find very old ones.
To keep things organised, we started collecting the leftover routers together with the caretakers here in Tübingen at Fichtenweg. By now, about 25 devices have been gathered. Anything that does not support modern Wi-Fi or current encryption standards is sorted out.
The working devices are passed on – together with a matching network cable – to the “WHO Dorfrat” (student dormitory council). They distribute them to people who only need simple internet access and for whom an older router is still good enough.
What matters to us is that you have really good and stable internet in the dorm. The internet connection in your room almost never fails – if you have problems, it is usually the router or its settings. Just contact us and we’ll show you how to set up your router correctly. You should basically have nearly 100% availability.
A big thank-you goes to the caretakers, who have been very active in collecting the routers!
on Also in 2025, the Tage der digitalen Freiheit (Days of Digital Freedom) will take place again – an open community event about technology, society, and digital self-determination. It happens on the weekend of July 26–27 at the Westspitze in Tübingen (Eisenbahnstraße 1) – just a short walk from the main train station.
The event is organized by the Chaos-Treff Tübingen, creating a space for exchange, ideas, and experiments beyond commercial interests.
What can you expect?
A diverse program with talks, workshops, and hands-on sessions – covering topics from digital rights and climate issues to technology and art. Open for everyone, free of charge, and community-driven.
When?
Saturday, July 26 and Sunday, July 27, 2025
Program starts at 11:00 AM on both days
Where?
Westspitze Tübingen, Eisenbahnstraße 1
More information:
tdf.cttue.de
And us?
Of course we from Netz-AK will be there too. This year without a booth – we admit it. Once again, no capacity. But we’ll drop by, listen, and join the discussion. Maybe next year we’ll finally bring a booth. Maybe.
Come by – it’s worth it.
See you at the Tage der digitalen Freiheit!
P.S.:
If you’re interested but not sure about just showing up, you can sign up as an elf. Elves help with small tasks like setting things up, giving info, or supporting parts of the program. It’s a nice way to get involved and meet people easily.
on There is currently no internet in Heuberger-Tor-Weg – this is almost certainly to do with the power cut here. It could be that the internet is also down in many other halls of residence. Our server room also seems to have no power at the moment and is only being kept running by the UPS, which will also run out of power at some point.
Power failure: https://www.swtue.de/netze/netzinformationen/aktuelle-meldungen.html
—
Update 12:05 PM: There is power in the server room, so we won’t suffer a total outage.
Update 1.36 pm: Welcome back online!
on On March 21, 2025, we will finally install our new MikroTik Cloud Core Router – CCR2216.
All important devices in our network have names. Our new core switch from MikroTik is called “Corey McRotik.”
As the central core switch, it connects all our network segments.
Many people don’t realize that we run a real, independent network.
All student dormitories in Geislingen an der Steige, Hohenheim, Nürtingen, Reutlingen, Albstadt, and Sigmaringen are connected to us in Tübingen and meet here at Fichtenweg 5.
(This is also why we cannot simply add dormitories that are connected via DSL, like those in Rottenburg, to our network.)
During the upgrade, all dormitories will go offline one or multiple times for a short period, depending on how we need to switch the fiber optic connections.
We chose Friday during the semester break to minimize disruptions for students and avoid interfering with the Studierendenwerk.
Our homepage is no longer hosted on a server at Fichtenweg—it is now hosted externally.
The main reason for this change was a series of power outages in our server room, which not only took all dormitories offline but also made our homepage unavailable.
We don’t expect frequent power outages, but with this change, we can provide more reliable updates in case of problems.
No need to worry, no emails, and please do not report the planned outage on Friday at 6:00 PM—we are aware of it.
We will be in the server room, literally holding cables in our hands.
We will update this message once we are finished.
If you still have problems after restarting at least one router, please contact us immediately via the contact form.
We will stay on-site for a few more hours to fix configuration issues or, if necessary, undo changes to keep the internet downtime as short as possible.
If you are interested in large networks, feel free to contact us (contact form: Mitmachen).
No prior knowledge is needed!
This year, we will replace switches in over 100 buildings—it’s manual work, so every helping hand is welcome.
If technology is not your strength, but you still want to help, we would really appreciate it.
As you can see from this not-so-perfect text, we could also use someone who can write better texts, design announcements, or simply organize tasks.
Right now, we are mainly active in Tübingen, but we already have one person in Hohenheim who recently joined to help on-site.
We really appreciate people outside of Tübingen because you can reach locations faster.
For example, you could help someone in a dorm with router issues, check if a construction crew accidentally cut a fiber optic cable, or look in the basement to see if a power outage is causing a network problem. All of this is much more difficult for our volunteer team in Netz-AK to handle from Tübingen.
6:16 pm update: after 4 minutes of downtime we finished. If anything is different for you, contact us!
on First of all, it’s great that you’re here – welcome to the dormitory and our volunteer-managed network!
If you are new to the dormitory, you probably want to meet people. So, it’s a good idea to talk to your neighbours if you have a question.
They can answer questions about housing, shopping, or sports facilities and we can only help you with the access to the internet.
The internet in the dormitory is fast, and you don’t have to pay extra for it. (If someone has slow internet, it’s usually because they have a bad router.)
To go online via Wi-Fi, you need your own router. Almost everyone has one or shares Wi-Fi with the neighboring room.
If you already have a router, make sure to read our tutorial on Wi-Fi in the dorm room.
If you don’t have a router and want to buy one, I have written a blog post explaining how I would do it if I were in your situation.
If you ever have a problem or need help, don’t hesitate to contact us via the contact form.
Please always use this form so that we have all the information we need to help you quickly and efficiently.
Unfortunately, as a working group, we can only help you in German or English. Please use the language you are more comfortable with.
We understand that you might want to practice your German, but it is easier for us to help you in English if your English is better.
When you write to us, please don’t use AI.
Based on what and how you write, we can understand what you mean and how much you already know.
A “perfect” AI-generated message suggests to us that you know a lot – and you will then receive a response at that level.
If you want help from a human, write the message yourself!
Have fun and enjoy your time in the dormitory!
Your Netz-AK (short for Netzwerk Arbeitskreis = Network Work-group)
on 
The Christmas season – for many, a time of reflection and peace. But for us at Netz-AK, it stays busy! Even during the festive season, we’re here for you. Whether it’s sudden technical issues or those little things you’ve always wanted to configure properly – we’ve got your back!
Of course, there are limits: if solving a problem requires “paid staff,” many of them are rightly on holiday now.
Why? It’s simple: volunteers rock!
A big thank you to everyone who helps us keep going. A special shout-out to the caretakers, Carmen Braun, Mrs. Horrer and Mrs. Hein.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a great start to the new year!
Your Netz-AK Team