Comment on Student dorm does not allow wifi routers
Lojcs@lemm.ee 4 months agoI don’t know much about networking but that page seems to be about someone else setting up a dhcp server without the knowledge of the administrators or the users. In op’s case the concerns about mitm attacks don’t apply and the other concerns sound like problems that could arise in cases of misconfiguration. I also couldn’t see anything about it affecting the main network’s performance
Confused_Emus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 months ago
I mean, it’s all right there in the first two paragraphs. Keep in mind that by DHCP server we aren’t talking about something specifically set up by people with malicious intent. A home router is a DHCP server when not configured for pass through. Students who don’t know how routers actually work (we can’t all be IT nerds, lol) plug them into their dorm Ethernet jack, and now you’ve got an unauthorized device offering IP addresses that conflict with the authorized DHCP servers, which can quickly start causing issues with any new devices trying to connect to the network, and existing devices as their DHCP leases expire. Also keep in mind that we’re talking about a college network that will likely have local network resources for students like shared drives that would not be accessible to anyone connecting through the rogue device. Your IT department will quickly start getting complaints about the network that are caused by an access point you have no control over.
Lojcs@lemm.ee 4 months ago
I see, I thought routers knew not to do dhcp on the Wan port
Confused_Emus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 months ago
Typically they do. Which is great until you get a student who doesn’t understand WAN vs LAN and plugs both connections into the LAN port. Never underestimate the power of a Stupid User.
AbidanYre@lemmy.world 4 months ago
They do.
flappy@lemm.ee 4 months ago
If you plug the dorm ethernet jack into the LAN side of a consumer router, there’s a chance they don’t.
Confused_Emus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 months ago
Which is all well and good until you get someone who plugs both connections into the LAN ports.