Wireless Devices and Printers

Wireless Devices

We do not allow the use of personal routers in the dorms here at JHU.

Personal Routers interfere with the Enterprise (‘hopkins’, ‘eduroam’, ‘JHGuestnet’) Wireless, and we have seen students have intermittent, slow, and even dropped connections, due to personal router interference.

Please work with JHU IT on alternative options for device network connectivity.

If it is critical that you have one for medical or educational purposes, please visit our ‘Getting More Help/Contact Us‘ page to contact the IT Help Desk to open a ticket to work with JHU IT on the available options.

Most devices have a way of connecting to the wired network, which should be used when possible, using the devices ethernet port, or a USB to Ethernet adapter, and the active data jack in your room.

Requirements to connect (minimum system requirements to access the Wireless Residential Network):

To connect to the secure wireless network(s) at Hopkins you must have a device with the following:

  • Wireless network adapter capable of
    • 802.11 a, g, or n
    • 802.1x authentication
    • WPA2-Enterprise, PEAP, with AES 256-bit encryption security
  • Currently supported Operating System with critical updates installed
  • Current and up to date anti-virus/anti-malware endpoint protection software
  • Valid JHED ID and Password

For information on Connecting to the Wireless Networks, please visit the

Wireless Resource Center.

Wireless Printers

We do not allow or support wireless printers on any of the Johns Hopkins wireless networks. They do not have the appropriate settings to connect to enterprise wireless networks such as the secure ‘hopkins’ wireless network here at JHU.

However, we understand you may need access to your printer during your time here, so please choose one of the following two options to connect your printer to your PC or laptop:

Option 1: Direct Cable Connect

If provided with your printer, use the USB printer cable to connect your printer directly to your PC or laptop. If you do not have a cable, one can be obtained from the JHU Technology Store in the Garland Hall basement, or an alternative tech store such as Best Buy, or online.

Note: Please make sure you purchase the correct cable for your specific printer.

This will be the easiest and cheapest way to connect to your printer.

Option 2: Wireless Direct Connect

Many current model printers (such as HP and Brother) offer a ‘Wireless or Wi-Fi Direct’ network connectivity option, which creates a small wireless network broadcasted from the printer itself. With this you can connect your laptop or computer to the printers wireless network from the list of available wireless, and print wirelessly.