Computer Question

[MountainConqueror]

This has probably been answered, but I do not want to dig through forums to find the answer. (I feel others don't want to either).
I am coming in from College with a laptop (Surface Book 3) already. Am I allowed to bring and use it instead of the issue laptop?

 

[DrMom]

Your computer has to connect to the Dept of Defense wifi/servers. You will need the official laptop.

 

[jc5108]

That's not true, many people use their own laptops so yes you can use it, and you'll get an external CAC reader as well with your issued laptop that you can plug into your personal one. You'll have to get the issued laptop anyways though, you can't opt out of it and the $1,600 will be taken out of your cadet account for it.

 

[jc5108]

Also the WREN, which is the DOD wifi server, can even be accessed with your phone and you can get on CIS outside of the WREN (normal wifi) to check grades or if you forgot to sign out on pass, but you have to use the government VPN that they tell you to use.

 

[BKTiel]

Around 3 years ago and years prior the campus operating on the DREN, which is a DoD network for academic purposes with some inflexible requirements such as CAC auth, etc. I remember getting on to that was a pain in the ass with my personal laptop.

Since USMA switched to a commercial network (WREN), you can log in with most devices by just putting in Office365 credentials provided by the school, the ones you can't (like consoles) just need to be registered in advance.

So short answer is no, there isn't anything really stopping you. I would say that one consideration is you'll have to consent to having your device managed by the IT department here in order to install all the software you'll need for school. A lot of people I know just use the cadet laptop for school and use their personal device for things like gaming, coding, etc.