We at the University of South Florida ran into something similar. In response, we just turned off the lights via software (Cisco) on the residence hall APs (and came up with a little web tool to turn lights on, off, or blink them a few times for field personnel to use when they were trying to find a given AP.) Another argument for "dark" APs was that they're less noticeable without pretty lights, and hence less likely to be stolen, although we haven't really had a problem with that either, lights or no lights.
Toivo Voll Network Administrator Information Technology Communications University of South Florida -----Original Message----- From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ed Furia Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2010 16:00 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Mount hidden or in plain view in dorms? Here at Indiana University we have had exposed access points in dorms for a number of years with little or no vandalism. We did have one interesting problem. In some areas access points are installed in student rooms. We found that some of these access points were being disconnected at night due to the annoying nature of the blinking activity lights. Black electrical tape solved that problem. ed... On Dec 2, 2010, at 2:41 PM, Tamarack Birch-wheeles wrote: > We have many exposed access points here at PSU, including in our dorms. We > haven't had any instances of vandalism or theft of access points in the 6 > years I've been here. > > -- > Tamarack Birch-wheeles > Network Engineer > Portland State University - Networking and Telecommunications > Phone: (503)725-3201 > > > On Thu, Dec 2, 2010 at 11:33 AM, Fleming, Tony <[email protected]> wrote: > Crew, > > We hide our access points above ceiling grids. Our logic is the devices are > out of site and less prone to vandalism (in fact we have had zero vandalism). > > One concern that has been expressed by our wireless team is the congestion > above the ceiling grid – pipes, HVAC ducting, lighting and cables. It is > logical that all of these obstructions do not help RF propagation and create > sources of interference. > > > My question for you guys: > > Did any of you change your mounting locations from above ceiling grid to > below the grid (visible)? > > Did you notice substantial signal improvement? > > What is the vandalism rate? > > Did your facilities/administrative folks express any concerns > about the AP visibility? > > > > ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE > Constituent Group discussion list can be found at > http://www.educause.edu/groups/. > > > ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE > Constituent Group discussion list can be found at > http://www.educause.edu/groups/. > ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
