Look here for advice.
Students require an OIT account before being able to connect.
If you have not been sent information on activating an OIT account, please contact the Help Desk for information. When you install a new system, the installer used by your Linux distribution will generally be able to detect and activate your card for you after being given this information. At UMass, if you will be using a jack in one of the university residence halls, you will need to register your compuer using the Network Registration system. When you get to that step, select the link for information about how the Network Registration system. This is theoretically all that is needed to use your machine on the campus network.