When students turned on their laptops and connected to Sacramento State’s Wi-Fi network last week, they learned two things: the university’s virus-protection program SafeConnect had to be reinstalled and the wireless connection was dropping unpredictably.

SafeConnect, a program implemented at Sac State in fall 2011, helps protect the university network from viruses and malware by verifying that computers connecting to the wireless network have a minimum level of anti-virus software installed.

As returning students saw, SafeConnect had to be reinstalled with the beginning of the new school year.

Ted Koubiar, director of Operations and Systems Services, said the program is necessary to ensure devices on campus are not carrying viruses or malware, which can spread through the network and infect other computers.

“We can manage our computers on campus, the ones that we provide to faculty, staff and the labs, but we can’t manage the ones you bring from home,” Koubiar said.

Cole Wallace, a criminal justice major, had his own security qualms when he was first asked to install SafeConnect. He said his iPad notified him the program did not have the proper security certificates. He did not encounter that issue this year.

“The certificates were there this time,” Wallace said.

Biology major Emily Xiong, who brings her laptop to school once a week, said the SafeConnect requirement frustrated her.

“I hate it because every time I log in and try to go on Google, I have to reinstall it, ” Xiong said.

Xiong wondered why the program had to be installed each school year.

Koubiar said the reinstallation was necessary to keep SafeConnect updated. When hackers learn new ways of attacking computers, anti-virus developers update their software, he said. SafeConnect in turn must be updated to stay effective.

Students also had difficulty connecting to the school wireless network.

Koubiar said the start of the semester is a strenuous test for the Wi-Fi system. With all of the students returning to campus, he said, the load on the system grows exponentially.

“You go from 200 users all the way to 12,000,” Koubiar said.

Koubiar also said some devices have new operating systems installed over the summer and some of this software can cause glitches.

The connection problems resulting from the software updates and surge in users have completely cleared up, according to Koubiar. He said students should ensure the network drivers on their computers are up-to-date because out-of-date drivers can make connecting difficult.

Access to SacLink email accounts is intermittent as well and has been since Sept. 11, according to the Information Resources and Technology website. IRT directed students to the Office 365 website where, after giving their email address, username and password, they can log in to their account.

“We are working with Microsoft on the problem and hope to have it fixed soon,” IRT said on its website.

Alesha Pettit, an anthropology major and part-time teacher, said the email instability had hindered her ability to communicate with students.

She said she could see students’ emails but was not allowed to respond.

Koubiar recommends students to visit the IRT Service Desk in the AIRC if they are experiencing problems with the Sac State wireless network.

“I see students working with our staff, our student workers, all the time to resolve issues,” Koubiar said.