Thanks for the reminder that we technically have no authority over the radio spectrum, even in our own campuses.
To add a wrinkle, Windows 7 ships with the ability to act as a wifi gateway. You can set up any PC with a wireless card to act as a router, without needing to install anything that didn't ship with the OS. Certainly linux (and macs by extension) have the same ability. Thankfully, this isn't common knowledge for most students, but it does make it trickier to craft a policy statement that prohibits rogue devices, when the rogue device may have double duty as the students' desktop, and this may itself be connected only via wifi. Sent from my iPad On May 14, 2013, at 4:47 PM, Max Lawrence Lopez <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello, > > Here are a few of the replies that I received: > ________________________________ > Max, > > I don't set policy here at Syracuse but I used to run the network group and > I've worked pretty close with Lee Badman over the years. > > I remember the early years of wireless at SU when Lee was wrestling with this > issue. It was a no-win situation and the only way to get people to stop > deploying rogue AP's was to deploy a secure production wireless network, to > take away the motivation. Of course, that took time and money. > > I now teach classes here at SU focused on wireless and we have been > discussing this topic. My understanding of the law is that no University has > the legal right to prohibit someone from using an unlicensed radio device as > long as that device has been certified by the FCC. The FCC governs the public > airwaves and Universities have no authority. However, in the case of > traditional rogue APs/routers, a University can prevent these devices from > being connected to its network or require users to remove them from its > network. Where it gets trickier is the situation with personal Wi-Fi > hotspots, which use 3G/4G as a the backhaul. My understanding is you cannot > legally prohibit the use of these devices, even if they cause interference on > your network. > > I have a team of students in my class who are evaluating these devices. We > have discovered that at least some of them default to using Channel 2 in the > 2.4 GHz band. This is a terrible situation if you are using a standard > channel plan of 1-6-11. As you may know, the impact of adjacent channel > interference (1-2) is actually worse than if both devices were on the same > channel. > > I just thought I would share my thesis on this topic. I'd appreciate it if > you could share any other insights you gain as it would be good background > for my students. > > -- > Dave Molta > Associate Professor of Practice > Director, Bachelor of Science, Information Management and Technology > Director, Minor, Information Technology, Design, and Startup Syracuse > University School of Information Studies > ____________________________________________________ > > Hi, > UCR's is here: > > > http://fboapps.ucr.edu/policies/index.php?path=viewPolicies.php&policy=400-37 > > Thanks, > --russ > _____________________________________________________ > > > Thanks, > Max Lopez > Senior Staff Authority for Wireless > Office of Information Technology > University of Colorado > www.colorado.edu > [email protected] > > _____________________________________ > > -----Original Message----- > From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of J. Scot Prunckle > Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 10:55 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Wireless Policy > > All, > > I, too, would be interested in any discussion on this topic. It's something > we may consider as well. > > Thank you to all in advance for your comments. > > Sincerely, > > > J. Scot Prunckle > Network Engineer > University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee > Office: (414) 229-7206 > Cell: (414) 208-6703 > E-mail: [email protected] > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Danny Eaton" <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 11:19:01 AM > Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Wireless Policy > > I realize this is a month or so behind, but I'd be interested in this as > well, if anyone is willing to share. > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Max Lawrence Lopez > Sent: Friday, April 12, 2013 10:59 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [WIRELESS-LAN] Wireless Policy > > We are looking to revise our wireless policy on campus. We would like to > ensure that we emphasize prohibiting Rogue and interfering devices in 2.4GHz > and 5Ghz spectrum. Of course we do not want to recreate the wheel, so we are > looking to the educational community to see what Wireless Policy you might > have in place. Anyone care to share? > > Thanks, > > Max Lopez > Senior Wireless Engineer > Office of Information Technology > University of Colorado > www.colorado.edu > [email protected] > > > > > > > > > !DSPAM:911,51682f2b64711925220001! > > ********** > 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/.
