Same here, we've been asked over the years, no for all the same reasons.

I did see one wireless product, forgot who (maybe meru?) that claimed with 
enough AP's you could tell if the user is in the room or not, and if so, kill 
their access.
Neat idea, not sure if anyone does it, still a scheduling nightmare.

I had a funny counter, modify one (or more) classrooms and turn them into a 
Faraday cage, kill all signals in and out.  Maybe even as "testing" center.  
Faculty could then schedule that room.
I'm sure facilities mgmt would love that. ;)


-          Carl

From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv 
[mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU] On Behalf Of Jacobson, James
Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 7:19 AM
To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU
Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] selectively disabling wireless in classrooms

Last year we tackled this problem by working with the Deans and administration 
of the University.  Ultimately, it was decided that wireless access will remain 
on and available at all times as the management overhead would be horrendous to 
activate/deactivate AP's, there was no guarantee of bleed over from another AP, 
and there was no way for us to stop any type of cellular signal.  In other 
words, if our students wanted to access wireless services, they would find a 
way regardless of the restrictions we tried to enable.  The Deans made it clear 
to their faculty that wireless services would be installed in all classrooms 
and lecture halls (we have some programs that are required to have laptops) and 
would be available to students at any time.

Adoption of wireless technology in the classrooms has been well received and 
having the support of the Deans and University administration really helped.


James Jacobson
Information Technology Services
__________________________________________________________

[Description: Description: mwuseal (Custom)]Midwestern University



From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv 
[mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU] On Behalf Of Gogan, James P
Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 7:22 AM
To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU
Subject: [WIRELESS-LAN] selectively disabling wireless in classrooms

Well, it's that time of year again ....

the time when we get calls from a handful of faculty who want the ability to 
disable the wireless access point that covers their classroom during specific 
class periods (they also want cellular coverage disabled during those times -- 
yeah, right ......).    When I point out that the AP that covers their 
classroom may also provide coverage for the one next door, or that with a 
controller-based architecture, shutting off one access point would likely just 
increase the signal coverage area of adjacent APs, the response I usually get 
back is "well, I KNOW that other universities are doing it, so .... FIX IT".

So, let me ask my biennial question: what ARE other universities doing in this 
regard?    I was specifically given U of Michigan as an example.    Anyone know 
what they're doing?     Any successful implementation details from anyone 
dealing with this issue are welcome.    And yes, I am biting my tongue to not 
say "teach more engagingly".

Thanks in advance!

-- Jim Gogan / Univ of North Carolina
********** 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/.

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