Castle Village Network

To use the Castle Village common area wireless Internet service, you need to do two things:

Create a username and password.
Configure your computer to use our security certificate.

We provide instructions here to do both those things.

Step 1 you will do once, as you only need to create one username and password for your apartment. Step 2 you will do once per computer, as you will need to configure each computer that you wish to connect to the common area wireless service. Once a computer has been configured, it should connect automatically when you select that network.

Your username and password

You will need a username and password to log into the wireless routers. If your apartment connection to the Castle Village network is working, then you can register your own username and manage your password by visiting the wireless account manager in your web browser (from your apartment, on a computer that is connected to the Castle Village network).

The first time you visit the wireless account manager, you will be asked to create a new wireless user. There is one wireless login per apartment, to be shared among the residents of that apartment. Please supply the first and last name(s) of the resident(s) and the building and apartment numbers for this unit. Also, pick a username and enter a password (or use the default suggested password). Press the "Save user" button to create the new user.

Usernames should be between 2 and 16 characters. Valid characters are A(a) through Z(z), 0 through 9, and the underscore character.

On subsequent visits to the wireless account manager, you will be able to update your name(s), building and apartment number, username or password.

If your apartment's connection to the Castle Village network is not yet working, please contact the management office to request a username and password for the public space wireless routers.

Installing our certificate

Instructions for how to install our certificate using the major modern OSes are included below. If you need further assistance, please email cv@panix.com or call our support line at 212-741-4400 x1. You will only need to follow these instructions once per device, and only the first time you connect that device to the network.

MacOS

Choose the wireless network from the Airport drop-down menu. A message will pop up telling you to view the certificate and make sure it is "appropriate." In the window where you can view the certificates, check the "Always trust wireless-authentication.panix.com" box.

When the authentication window pops up, enter the username and password and set the "Certificate" choice to "wireless-authentication.panix.com". You will then get connected.

iPhone/iPad

Go into:

iPhone: Settings→General→Network→Wifi
iPad: Settings→WiFi

and select the network. After entering the username and password, you'll get a pop-up message about the certificate. Tap the "Accept" button, and the connection will complete.

Windows 7

Windows 7 will automatically acquire the certificate, but will present you with a pop-up window informing you of a minor issue with it. You will be given the options "Terminate" and "Connect". "Connect" will bring you to the username/password prompt.

You can avoid warnings by manually installing the Certificate Authority into your wireless networking configuration. You will need to download the certificate here, then open a Command Prompt (type "cmd" in the Start Menu search field) and enter the following command:

certutil -enterprise -addstore NTAuth wireless-authentication.panix.com.crt

replacing "wireless-authentication.panix.com.crt" with the actual name of the certificate file that is saved on your computer.

Windows XP

Windows XP will not automatically acquire the SSL certificate when connecting to the wireless network, so you'll need to take a few extra steps before you can connect.

First, on a working connection, download the Root Certificate Bundle here (to download, right-click on the link and select "Save link as..." from the menu).

Double-click on the cert file and click the "Install Certificate..." button. Click "Next" from the intro screen, and on the next screen select "Place all certificates in the following store." Click "Browse", and select "Trusted Root Certification Authorities", then click "OK". You'll receive confirmation that the cert has been installed.

Open the list of available wireless networks and attempt to connect to the relevant network; this will initially fail. Click "Change Advanced Settings" and go to the "Wireless Networks" tab. Select the network and click "Properties," then go to the "Authentication" tab.

Under "Authentication", EAP type should be set to "Protected EAP (PEAP)". Click the Properties button.

Check the box(es) next to the relevant Trusted Root Certification Authority, "Go Daddy Secure Certification Authority".

"Authentication Method" should be set to "Secured Password". Click the Configure button and make sure that "Automatically use my Windows logon name..." is unchecked. Click OK on all open windows to close them and save the settings.

The next time you connect to the wireless network, you'll be prompted to validate the certificate; click OK when the dialogue box appears. Following this, the login/password prompt will appear.

Ubuntu

Select the wireless network from the list of available networks, validate the cert, and enter the username and password when prompted.

Technical Notes

These notes are just "behind-the-scenes" edification for more technically-inclined users, and are largely irrelevant for connecting to and using the Castle Village wireless network.

The Castle Village public space wireless routers use WPA2 Enterprise mode for security. Just like with a web browser setting up an HTTPS connection, WPA2 Enterprise security relies on a security (SSL) certificate. The first time (and only the first time) you connect to the CV wireless routers, your computer will ask you to review the certificate details and either accept or reject the certificate.