My school has a wireless guest network, but it is insanely slow and doesn't work in half the school. There's also a personal drive for everyone that I would like to access. They have a "Protected" wireless network for school computers to use.
Every student gets a username and password to log on from any school computer. Is there a way I can use the same login credentials, but on my personal laptop? I am running Arch Linux, with the WICD network manager.
To answer the connecting to the wireless network part, it depends how the school's security is set up. If they're using a RADIUS server, you should be able to use your login credentials to access the network (if you try connecting to their wifi SSID, it should ask for a username and password). If they're trying to limit access to school-owned computers only, with a WPA2-personal password, you'll have to ask an administrator for the network key. (There are ways to break WPA2 but SU doesn't cover those.)
If you can get your laptop onto their non-guest network, you should be able to connect to your drive by using the \\server\share address. It will ask for credentials, which you then supply your school user/pass.
If you cannot get onto their non-guest network, your next attempt should be at getting VPN access to that network.
If that doesn't work, I believe that you cannot access your drive.
Chances are good it was designed to prevent you using your personal device on it. Beyond that, unless the IT team for the University approves it, I would HIGHLY recommend not attempting to do so. Adding your personal device to the network means that they dont have control over what happens on THEIR network. Keep in mind that they are responsible for the safety and security of the network, and allowing an unmanaged machine inside a restricted zone opens them up to a world of potential hurt.
If the wifi is that bad, complain to the IT team, complain until it gets fixed. Their network engineer might not have any idea because no one tells him.
