Computers & Internet

Computer Facilities

All individual student bedrooms at MRS (except Caulfield Residential) have private computer connection points.

The private computer connection points give residents 24-hour access to the university campus network, the World Wide Web and email. *There is an annual charge levied by the university for the computer connection points.

Computers need to be set up to our specifications. 24 hour access to the various computer services listed above is subject to the daily maintenance requirements of the university IT services centre. Maintenance requirements and scheduling are not within the control of Monash Residential Services.

Residents are further advised that internet use is regulated by the university. Further information regarding internet use and charges can be found below.

Here are some tips to reduce internet costs whilst using the university network:

Avoid downloading video and audio files
Avoid websites with significant graphical content
Avoid listening to the radio over the Internet
Use Monash WebMail rather than external mail services

Our expectations of your computer and internet use

The use of the Monash University Network is governed by the Information Technology Acceptable Use Policy for students and residents are advised that any breach of this policy may result in deactivation of your room network port without warning in addition to any consequences imposed by the University.

Viruses and updates

It is strongly recommended that residents have anti-virus software and the latest updates for the operating system installed before connecting to the university network. As a Monash student, you can use the University Anti-Virus software Sophos free of charge

Monash Residential Services, Monash University will not be held liable for any damage caused to your computer as a result of being connected to the university network.

Internet use and Charges (Monash Residential Services)

Internet usage is not free. Monash University passes on internet use charges to all faculties and MRS. More information about internet access at Monash Residential Services is available at Internet rates

All internet transactions are recorded and can be traced to a particular username. For this reason students must keep their username and password secure. If a user has reason to believe that others may have obtained and could be using their username, then the user must report it immediately to Information Technology Services (ITS) (http://www.its.monash.edu.au/contact/servicedesk.html ).

Internet use from an MRS on-campus accommodation site

The internet service available throughout MRS is provided by Monash University’s ITS. It generally operates at a speed of 100 megabits per second which is significantly faster than other internet service providers. Further, some external internet service providers reduce your access speed if you are a big internet user. There are no such limitations on the internet service provided throughout MRS.

Charges for internet access from MRS

There is no charge for accessing Monash University web sites, however, residents need to make sure that they configure their PC's so that Monash traffic does not go through the proxies. If your PC goes to Monash sites via the proxy, ITS may bill you for that traffic.

ITS will provide MRS with information regarding individual resident’s non-Monash internet usage on a monthly basis. Based on this information, residents accessing external internet sites from any MRS accommodation site will be charged for their usage. Charges for 2009 will be at the rate of 0.55 cents per 100 megabytes ($5.50 per gigabyte) plus GST. If ITS raises the charges any time during the year 2009 this will be passed on to the users.

Internet use invoices will be levied on residents by MRS on a monthly basis in arrears (e.g. internet use in March will be invoiced in April, internet use in April will be invoiced in May). Residents will only be charged for what they download from an external internet site. There is no fixed minimum monthly charge. Residents wishing to query their accounts need to contact MRS.

Residents who do not download via the proxy's from any MRS accommodation site will not receive an invoice.

Non-residents will not be able to access external internet sites from any MRS accommodation site.

Acceptable Use Policy

All internet access at MRS must be in accordance with the Acceptable Use Policy (http://www.adm.monash.edu.au/unisec/pol/itec12.html ). Downloading large files such as music and movies are likely to be a breach of the Acceptable Use Policy and copyright laws.

Authorised users (i.e. students) are expressly forbidden to make digital files of commercially available recordings, music albums, album covers, and videos, without permission of the copyright owner. Infringing activities can be detected by investigative bodies and a student will be personally liable for damages and costs if a copyright owner takes action for infringement of copyright.

More information

More information about internet access at Monash University is available at http://www.its.monash.edu/students/internet-use/