Common Questions & Answers

With so many new students & transfers here at Harding this semester, I am sure there are a lot of questions that might arise regarding setting up your laptop/phone/tablet to Wi-Fi, installing Microsoft Office to your device, and many other things.

If you are new to Harding this semester, or maybe even just a returning student desiring a refresher, this post is for you! I will be going through some common questions that we receive here at DormNet and providing answers in order to aid in your transition to life here at Harding University!

1) Dorm Wi-Fi

Q) I am connected to the Wi-Fi in my dorm, but it won't give me access to the Internet. What else do I need to do?

A) Great! You have accomplished the first step. In order to gain access to the Internet here at Harding, you need two basic things: a program called SafeConnect installed on your computer and an active & updated anti-virus software. Both of these things simply ensure that while on Harding's network your private information is safe and that we keep things running smoothly for everyone. SafeConnect can be easily installed through a prompt you should receive after connecting to your dorm Wi-Fi and going to an internet browser. You are free to install or purchase your own anti-virus software as you choose, but we also provide free versions of anti-virus software for both Mac and Windows machines.

2) HUWA-GUEST & HUWA-SEC

Q) When I am in the library or student center I keep seeing these two Wi-Fi networks: HUWA-GUEST and HUWA-SEC. HUWA-SEC needed a username and password, so I just connected to HUWA-GUEST, but it is SO slow! What should I do?

A) Great question! This is a very common thing for new students to do because they simply don't know what the two networks are meant for. HUWA-GUEST is a connection intended for guests of Harding (prospective students, families, seminar participants, etc.), so it is a public network without a password. The bandwidth on this network is very small, so you will not get good speed on this network. It is also not secure, so you do not want to use HUWA-GUEST. Instead, use HUWA-SEC! "SEC' stands for "secured" and it is intended for students, faculty, and staff of Harding to use. You will get a much better connection and will be much safer using it.

For Macs, all you need to do is enter in your Harding username and password, the one you use for Pipeline and Canvas. It is that simple!

For Windows, they are not automatically set up to recognize this network, so there are a few things you need to do in a manual setup to get it working correctly. Check out this post to learn how to set up HUWA-SEC on all devices, especially a Windows computer.

3) Resetting a Password

Q) I forgot my password and I don't know how to change it!

A) Don't worry! It is a very simple process to reset your password. Here's how:

1) Go to the Pipeline Log-in page

2) Select "Forgot/Expired Password

3) You will then need to enter in your username and date of birth, as well as answer your security question and provide a new password. 

If this process does not work for you because you cannot remember the answer to your security question, please feel free to come to our Help Desk with your student ID and we would be happy to reset your password for you. It will only be temporarily reset to your H# for 2 weeks after which it will expire, but you will at least be able to log into Pipeline, Canvas, etc. and change your password before it expires.

4) Installing Microsoft Office 

Q) I heard that Harding provides Microsoft Office now to its students for free! How do I get this?

A) You are correct! Harding does provide a full version of the Microsoft Office suite to its current students. As long as you are a current student at Harding, you receive a free-to-use suite of Office for your Mac or Windows laptop, as well as your smartphone or tablet. You can access your files through your OneDrive online storage account from any web browser, which is really cool! Once you graduate from Harding, that summer your license will expire and your documents will become read-only, so you can still keep your files, but you will then need to pay for the Office 365 subscription. Check out our post on how to install Office 365 here. 

Those are just a few of the questions that we get from students, but I hope it was helpful to you! If you have any issues with any of these processes, have any other issues, or just have general questions about technology, we are always willing and excited to assist you.