UNC Asheville recognizes the vital role the Internet plays in education. ITS supports university-wide network connections, from ethernet connections in individual dorm rooms to widespread wireless access.
The UNC Asheville backbone is connected to the Internet through a 1Gb channel, provided by the Microelectronics Center of North Carolina (MCNC). The MCNC network, NCREN (North Carolina Research and Education Network) utilizes fiber optic circuitry to provide UNC Asheville with a high bandwidth connection to other UNC campuses and to the larger Internet.
Networks and Systems designed the campus backbone with significant excess capacity to support future applications such as campus video distribution, voice applications and building controls systems. UNC Asheville redesigned and implemented a complete network equipment refresh and implementation of a VOIP Unified Communications System for the campus during the spring of 2009.
All academic buildings and dorms are wired with CAT5 cable, and support speeds of 100Mb/s. Wireless access is provided via 802.11g (54Mb/s) access points.