Student dorm does not allow wifi routers

Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨mat@linux.community⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.world⁩

https://linux.community/pictrs/image/7e519d1c-7141-4f1d-b7b0-7de573294820.png

I just moved into a student dorm for a semester abroad, and beforehand I emailed them asking whether they had ethernet ports to plug my router into (I use it to connect all my devices, and for WiVRn VR streaming). They confirmed that I could, but now that I’m here the wifi login portal is asking me to accept these terms from the ISP, which forbid plugging in a router. There’s another clause that forbids “Disruptive Devices” entirely, defined as:

“Disruptive Device” means any device that prevents or interferes with our provision of the 4Wireless to other customers (such as a wireless access point such as wireless routers) or any other device used by you in breach of the Acceptable Use Policy;

So what are my options? I don’t think I can use this service without accepting the terms, but also I was told by the student dorm support that I could bring a router, which contradicts this.

source

Comments

Sort:hotnew top

Telorand@reddthat.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
That seems pretty standard stuff. My dorm had the same policy, because they operated their own mesh network and didn’t want students sending out their own radio signals that would have absolutely made their network not work well.

Is there some reason you need your own router?

source
- mat@linux.community ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Yeah, the interference argument is fair, but I think this is also the ISP (totally separate third party) trying to protect the paid plans they sell for connecting more than one device…
  
  source
  - cm0002@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    
    trying to protect the paid plans they sell for connecting more than one device
    
    It’s definitely 90% of the reason
    
    source
  - Telorand@reddthat.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    So it’s a network operated by a third party? That’s interesting. The handful of universities I’ve been to maintain their own.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
  - Crashumbc@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    In that case, just set up a router level VPN. The university probably doesn’t give a shit. Which is why the help desk IT kid said it’s fine, probably.
    
    It’s the 3rd party ISP just being greedy. The ISP may not even care as long as you’re not running an insane amount of traffic through it. Often this type of stuff is added to TOSs to allow them the option, if you’re being a bad actor.
    
    source
doggle@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
The reason they don’t want you using your own WiFi access point is probably because dorms are prone to over congestion if everyone sets up their own WiFi network.

If you wanted to fuck with them-and you don’t mind spending money-then you could set up your WiFi and get internet via mobile carrier or starlink, so that you never actually have to agree to their terms. Then when/if someone comes around to bitch at you you can watch them slowly come to the conclusion that they’ve got nothing on you.

Otherwise your options are to follow the rules to the letter and live without vr streaming, or accept that you might get in trouble. Some WiFi routers can be configured to not advertise their network; annoying because you’ll have to manually enter the network information on every device, but it might keep you from getting caught.

As for connecting multiple devices without paying; there’s probably some creative ways to tunnel all your traffic through a single device to get around that. Could still get you in trouble if you’re caught.

If you’re doing anything that could get you in trouble with the school make sure you save the email in which they told you using your own router is allowed.

source
- DudeDudenson@lemmings.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Ah such a masterful plan, paying for your own internet
  
  source
  - Ohmmy@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Tbf you’re paying for the college to provide you internet.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
- Skates@feddit.nl ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  Some WiFi routers can be configured to not advertise their network; annoying because you’ll have to manually enter the network information on every device, but it might keep you from getting caught.
  
  Just name the network something like Samsung S20 Personal Hotspot. They’re not gonna look into why a student created a Hotspot with their phone.
  
  Or, shit - lock the fucking door.
  
  source
  - computergeek125@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    If it’s a dorm they have the key.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
- WolfLink@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  You don’t actually need internet for the VR streaming part, so you could just set up a router not plugged into the wall
  
  source
  - utopiah@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    You do if you are rendering in the cloud, e.g NVIDIA CloudXR. Not sure what OP plans to do.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
pivot_root@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

You shall not use or attempt to use a device or software (such as NAT, Address Masquerading, Proxying, or the connection of an additional wireless router) that would allow you to connect more than the number of devices set out in the Service Information to the Network.

One of the ways they detect this is by checking the TTL of the packets coming from the “one” device is less than expected. If your router is using OpenWrt, you can configure an iptables rule to reset the TTL of outgoing packets to the default.

source
- mat@linux.community ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  My router is an Archer C6 from TP-Link. I’ve never used OpenWrt, but I have used Linux on my laptop & server for many years. Is this worth looking into/possible without any prior networking knowledge?
  
  source
  - pivot_root@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    It’s pretty straightforward to use, in my experience. There’s a web UI, so you won’t need to worry about the nitty gritty details unless you go beyond what’s supported through that.
    
    source
Dark_Arc@social.packetloss.gg ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
So most dorms don’t want you using your own routers because a bunch of student routers causes A LOT of inference.

You should probably reach out not to the dorm folks but the university networking folks as they’re the ones that will ultimately make the decision on whether or not to turn things off.

source
- mat@linux.community ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  That’s good advice, however this dorm is not part of my uni (just a partner to provide housing) and the internet provider whose T&C I’m expected to accept and sign up for 1y of are a totally separate legal entity, that has a bunch of upsells for stuff like “connect more than 1 device” (which my router/AP would basically be bypassing, and I think that’s what these clauses are about). About the interference, is it possible to limit it severely while still having a reliable connection just within my room? I only really want to connect:
  
  Laptop (wired)
  
  Phone
  
  VR for streaming from laptop
  
  source
  - Crashumbc@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    You may want to update your OP. Not being part of the University, makes a HUGE difference and will affect your options. Typically, when people say “dorms” it’s direct University provided housing.
    
    Options in this case:
    
    Just play dumb, nobody expects anyone to actually read TOS.
    
    Setup a router level VPN.
    
    Buy your own hotspot for Internet access. (May be cheaper to just pay for additional devices)
    
    source
Alk@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Mine didn’t either when I lived in a dorm. I got around the network block.

Plug Xbox 360 into ethernet wall port

Log into uni network, get internet

Plug router directly into pc.

Assign router same ip as Xbox

Spoof router mac address to match xbox

Unplug from pc

Quickly swap cable in wall from Xbox cable to router cable, Indiana Jones style

Internet for 1 month. Repeat monthly.
source
- Enceladus@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  TIL you aren’t a wireless professional until your hacks comes with a cinematic soundtrack.
  
  source
  - simonced@lemmy.one ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    You’re not a wireless professional if you use wired ethernet cables…
    
    source
- Lawnman23@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Image
  
  source
- shoki@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  this gives me playstation 1 CD swap vibes
  
  (inserting a legal cd to pass verification and then swapping it for your own cd)
  
  source
- Agent641@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Hacker on steroids.
  
  source
- Agent641@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  rapid typing
  
  “I’m in!”
  
  source
billwashere@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I work in university IT so I have some experience here. Some schools are better than others but in general providing IT services for students is like trying to wrangle a herd of starving feral cats who are all in heat.

First of all I have never seen 802.1x implemented (Ethernet authentication) in the wild that wasn’t almost immediately removed. It’s a shitty protocol that’s terrible to debug. I totally get why they restrict APs … my god if every student had one it would be a pain. It would be like standing in a crowded room with everyone shouting and you’re trying to pick out one conversation 20 ft away.

My guess is you’re basically in a situation like my son was at ECU. It’s likely not really a university dorm but closely affiliated hence the reason of a third party. Or the central university IT is abysmal and can’t be bothered. Either way the only reason to use 802.1X is because they think it’s more secure, when in fact it’s way more trouble than it’s worth. You can do the same thing by controlling downstream routing or MAC filtering. The ECU “dorm” did that and it wasn’t much better honestly. You had to go into a website to add your MAC address to get access to the WiFi. Firstly how do you do that when your computer can’t talk to anything. Chicken and egg problem. Secondly for the ones who figured out how to do that using your phone, good luck getting a history major to figure what even what a MAC address was.

My suggestion is don’t bother. If they’ve implemented 802.1x they’re a micromanaged IT and will catch you eventually. I’d also guess they have completely overtaxed their egress traffic and your speeds are abysmal.

On a related note, when you graduate never ever rent from an apt complex that generously process WiFi or Ethernet. It will almost always suck, they will have no one to provide adequate tech support, and they are just using it as another revenue stream.

Sorry I don’t have better advice but if they control the network there isn’t really much you can do.

source
- amanda@aggregatet.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I was once responsible for a student house (we don’t have dorms in the US sense, this is the closest we have) and I have similar experiences but less extreme. My favourite was when I had forgot to configure DHCP filtering and someone plugged in a router the wrong way so it started offering DHCP (that didn’t work) to everyone in the building, in a race with our upstream ISP.
  
  source
  - amanda@aggregatet.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Also, the times rats got into the networking room and ate random cables. I should add the network was built by volunteer students in the ‘90s.
    
    source
  - billwashere@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I did this a work one time… sorta the same thing. I installed pfsense VM and left the DHCp server on. I killed the network in our office for about 15 minutes.
    
    source
fishos@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Users are often dumb. Imagine 100 people who think they know what they’re doing trying to set up a bunch of custom networking.

That’s your dorm.

Most dorms either outright prohibit using personal hardware like that or require the schools IT department to install it themselves and set it up.

Run a network of your own someday and you’ll understand. It’s hard enough to get your own network working perfectly without a bunch of wildcards popping up everywhere.

source
- billwashere@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Do you know how many times I have killed my own network at home and I control EVERYTHING!! I’m the only wildcard…. Of course I have ADHD and documentation is not my strong suit 🤣
  
  source
- areyouevenreal@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I’ve never seen this happen. The reality is unless it’s a dorm full of CS students most don’t know fuck all about WiFi, networks, or want to pay for their own routers. It’s better to talk to the few who would attempt something like this.
  
  No what this actually is is the ISP trying to make money charging for more devices.
  
  source
- repungnant_canary@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  If someone deploys their router using a uni network as wan then I don’t see how that could affect other uni network users? I can imagine some internal services might not work behind such a router but it would be illogical of the user to blame anyone but themselves.
  
  source
  - Breve@pawb.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    The post mentioned a wireless mesh network, so it sounds like the ISP/provider already has a bunch of wireless access points set up to cover the whole building. One of the problems with high-density living spaces is that there are only a limited number of communication channels WiFi can use, so if everyone living there also runs their own wireless networks they use up all the available channels and have to cross-talk over eachother, leading to everything slowing down.
    
    source
  - fishos@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    If everything is set up perfectly, it should work, sure. Now how many people do you think even know the difference between WAN and LAN? You expecting the bio or art major to not make any mistakes at all? Or the business major?
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
SulaymanF@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
This isn’t rare and not altogether a bad idea.

My university had a problem of students bringing their own WiFi routers before the dorms had WiFi. Students would set them up incorrectly and cause a series of problems with colliding DHCP servers and interference and it would cause outages for nearby wired students.

A lot of IT departments locked the network down for these reasons.

source
- pivot_root@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  Students would set them up incorrectly and cause a series of problems with colliding DHCP servers
  
  That’s an IT problem, not a user problem. The downstream ports should have been isolated at both the link and packet layers. Configuring a router to share an unrestricted LAN between a dorm full of untrusted users is a disaster waiting to happen.
  
  source
  - maniii@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    A lot of Unis have IT on a shoestring budget.Especially the CompSci dept have the most idiotic IT “professionals” working there.
    
    Usually it is the Sciences dept like Mech-E or Tech-E or Elec-E who run massive Compute nodes for Rendering Physics or Fluid dynamics or something something research …
    
    Unfortunately, the Unis that have massive student dorms on-campus tend not to isolate their networks properly and allow students to directly connect to all depts Networks without any barriers. The isolation happens between LAN and Internet which is where most of the controls and filtering happens.
    
    It would be nice if each dept had their own VPN servers and proper network isolation at the LAN instead of the crazy monkey wiring everything to everything else on-campus.
    
    source
jac@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Shit, ask4? I think they were the isp when I was at uni about a decade ago. I’m sorry to hear they’re still kicking.

If it’s still the same as back then, all the dorms are essentially on the same lan and they’re using Mac filtering at the gateway. Since this was before Https became ubiquitous this meant you could sniff other people’s http requests.

What you do (what we did) was sign up with one device and setup a proxy on it. I think we used squid-cache. But anything that will masquerade the traffic as coming from that one device should do the trick.

source
- DontNoodles@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Yes, i think squid proxy would do the trick too. It even has installers for windows.
  
  source
nutsack@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
pretend you didn’t read it and press the button for fuck sake

source
xylogx@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
As someone who has administered networks and written policies like this the concern here is that you will run an open network that may be used for piracy, hacking, DDOS or to send bomb threats. Tracing down this type of behavior is required by law and allowing students to run open networks makes this near impossible.

source
- JasonDJ@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Not only that, but managing wifi channel congestion in a dorm is a pita.
  
  It’s tough enough when you fully control the airspace, to have nice clean coverage and overlapping cells.
  
  But then add dozens or hundreds of individually managed APs in a tiny space…with DFS and/or 160MHz channel widths?
  
  Ops best bet is to get their own 5g home internet and plug in.
  
  You’ll be hard pressed to get a router to talk to a captive portal sign in…but if OP wants to get creative, this can easily be fixed with a dumb switch and a Linux PC with two NICs. You could use windows for this, but why would you?
  
  source
Tarquinn2049@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
If you are really worried about getting caught not following the exact rules as written, you could always pay for multi device connections… then they won’t care.

But it’s definitely possible to setup up your VR router in a way that is not gonna bother anything. Most people in this thread don’t know that your VR router doesn’t need internet access. If the VR stream is all it is doing, it can be isolated from the internet, and the isp won’t know or care it exists.

source
- HeavyRaptor@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I have to agree with this comment. I’d probably just set up the router regardless (probably in WiFi AP mode) and not worry about it too much. No one reads the terms and conditions anyway. If someone comes to actually enforce the thing I’d obviously take it down. Hide the ssid if you want to.
  
  As others mentioned, there are ways to also hide traffic behind a single device, maybe connecting to a VPN on the router level would help with this?
  
  Back when I was in uni I had terrible wired Internet so I’d try everything. At one point I was using a jailbroken iPhone to share its 4g connection without having to pay extra to the wireless ISP (basically data plan was unlimited but tethering wasn’t). It worked fine, I could use my data on any of the devices over wifi but it was barely faster than the wired network and it was a lot of hassle so I gave it up.
  
  source
AreaKode@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Assuming they have their own wifi, they just don’t want you using wifi off of your own router. A wired connection should be fine.

source
- mat@linux.community ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Unfortunately, connecting to the ethernet port still prompts me to log into the network (make an account and accept these terms)
  
  source
  - cm0002@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Accept the terms and ignore them
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
  - BakedCatboy@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I would just accept the terms and disable wifi, or if you don’t want to double nat just use a switch and accept the terms / login on every device connected to the switch.
    
    source
utopiah@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Not a lawyer but if you have an email that says you can, I’d argue it’s override the ToS assuming the person giving permission actually legally can.

Anyway I bet what they avoid is reselling access so I believe as long as you don’t pay for yourself then resell to others you’ll be OK.

source
- Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  This. The ISP isn’t going to care about (or notice) a single person using a router. They will notice and care if 1 person is consuming the data of 20.
  
  source
- mindlesscrollyparrot@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  The email says that you can do it. It doesn’t say that you can do it without purchasing the upsell option.
  
  source
  - mat@linux.community ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    And importantly, the email is from my dorm (whose contract simply said they provided free fast wifi), while these unexpected T&Cs are from the dorm’s ISP.
    
    source
Treczoks@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Name and shame that crappy backwards university.

source
- EncryptKeeper@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  It’s perfectly reasonable there’s no shame involved.
  
  source
  - Silentiea@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    The part that isn’t reasonable is the misrepresentation. The Ethernet ports in the dorm aren’t allowed to be used with WiFi routers, contrary to what the student was told beforehand.
    
    The rule might be fine, but not lying about it. If it was just a mistake, the dorm company should still attempt to make it up to the student. This was a deciding factor in choosing this dorm, by the sound of it.
    
    source
- mat@linux.community ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  The uni is not at fault here, the dorm is a separate entity that just happens to have a deal to keep some rooms for exchange students like me. The dorm is from iQ Student Accommodation (who told me I could bring a router), and the ISP they use is ASK4 (whose T&C you are seeing).
  
  source
KiloNineFive@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
As someone whose job it is to deploy and manage wifi at a small university-adjacent student accommodation, these are similar to my rules. There are enough students that know enough to cause a problem, but not enough to know the pitfalls. It’s best to just blanket cut this off for everyone’s best experience.

source
- repungnant_canary@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Can you give some examples of issues you mention?
  
  source
  - KiloNineFive@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    A few stories:
    
    I’ve had a student install a super cheap (g only) repeater to provide wifi to their car in the car park, due to its location a number of students ended up using that rather than our APs. This slowed access for them dramatically.
    
    I’ve had a student physically remove an AP to get to the 2.5 gigabit port they connect to, they somehow thought that would be better than the 1G they have in their rooms, despite it all being the same link out.
    
    An overseas student cloned a MAC of their device to a travel router and effectively ran a VPN server for their family to try and give them an IP in our country.
    
    The accommodation only has an hour of my time per week or so, they’re not paying a lot so issues only get dealt with when I have the time for them, this leads to an extended period of bad access for folks and my complaints to the staff.
    
    The main point of the story is that not all students take the experience of their neighbors into account. Hence the restrictions.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
  - linearchaos@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Not OP, but I’ll add on some more complications.
    
    Your network is designed with the minimum number of access points you need to have really good coverage. Adding more access points to the rooms increases interference and takes up usable frequencies. Rogue access points are hard to find and university IT has very limited resources.
    
    That enterprise gear of the colleges using it’s part of a bigger picture system with alerts and alarms and the ability to see an address problems and locate issues effectively.
    
    source
bluemellophone@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Using your own WiFi router also bypasses the wireless security settings to access the school network.

Some resources are only available while on the network (printers, access to library, academic papers, other student hardware). Now imagine a random person in a coffee shop next door had u limited access to these resources via an unmanaged access point.

source
- JackbyDev@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Never had access to stuff like that from my dorm, only in the library.
  
  source
scholar@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Looks like that tos is just for the wifi network, if you’ve got an ethernet port then that won’t be using the wifi.

source
- mat@linux.community ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  The ethernet connexion still requires a login/account creation/T&C acceptance sadly.
  
  source
  - scholar@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Hmm, the fact that they specifically prohibit even WAPs is going to be a problem too. Do you have the earlier conversation in writing? I’d go back to whoever you spoke to before and ask them about it.
    
    source
FrederikNJS@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Are these restrictions set out by the ISP or the dorm?

If you don’t do business with the ISP, then you don’t have to agree to and follow their terms.

So as long as the dorms doesn’t have rules against setting up your own WiFi, then you should be well within your rights to purchase an Internet connection from another provider, but since you are likely not allowed to get your own line installed, you are probably restricted to ISPs that provide a service over the cellular network.

Of course using a cellular connection will give you worse latencies for online games, but at least you can have your own WiFi with low latency for your VR.

source
jordanlund@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
They don’t want you plugging in your own gear to their network, fine.

Get one of the “5G Home Internet” services from T-Mobile or Verizon, plug your router into that.

www.t-mobile.com/home-internet

www.verizon.com/home/internet/5g/

Not on their network, they have absolutely no say over it.

source
- maniii@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Since the price mentions British Pound Sterling as currency I dont think Verizon would be there. But T-Mobile is probably there in the UK.
  
  source
  - areyouevenreal@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    If this is UK major local ISPs would be: O2, EE, Three
    
    T-mobile did exist for a while but is not defunct and where replaced by Orange and then EE.
    
    Three are the cheapest generally if they have coverage there.
    
    source
- Crashumbc@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  While they “may” allow it. They absolutely have a say, and can prohibit it. Same way apartment complexes can prohibit pets.
  
  source
  - jordanlund@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Not really, it’s not their network. No way to prohibit it. All you’d do is plug it into power.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
LordCrom@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Connect your PC to the network then run internal networking as you like through a 2nd interface?

source
_thebrain_@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I would set up your router, turn off ssid broadcast and forget about it. It’s doubtful they have the equipment to find an access point that doesn’t actively announce itself to the world

source
- stoly@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  They will find it. Hidden is a software switch and your device just doesn’t show it. It’s still being advertised, however.
  
  source
  - _thebrain_@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Maybe it depends on the access point. When I turn it off on my router there are no beacons sent. Unless you specifically probe the ssid it doesn’t announce itself. BUT granted when you make a connection the ssid does show up during the handshake. If you were watching at the exact moment of connection then it would be detectable. I suppose they could use a mass deauther device and cause new connections and detect while that is happening but they they would need to triangulate the location of said ap… Again a lot of extra equipment.
    
    source
  - pivot_root@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    If they go looking. It’s unlikely they went out of their way to purchase and configure specialized devices in the building to catch it proactively.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
Confused_Emus@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Not all that surprising. I don’t know of any network manager who’d happily allow rogue routers on their network, particularly if you still have it configured as a DHCP device and not a pass through device, which most college students do not consider and will very much disrupt campus network performance.

source
- Lojcs@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Why does the dhcp on the router affect the main network? I’d think that way it only needs to deal with the router, as opposed to all the devices connected to the router if it’s passthrough?
  
  source
  - Confused_Emus@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Ah! I just saw you specified if it’s configured for pass through. If it is configured for pass through, then yeah it likely won’t cause issues on the network. The DHCP server is the critical bit.
    
    From a network management perspective, though, they still won’t want these because you have to trust all these college students are going to properly configure their devices - most of them won’t know how and won’t bother figuring it out. And then you still have the issue of a bunch of unmanaged access points to your network, which is just poor security.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
  - Confused_Emus@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Because that router will be broadcasting DHCP signals and offering IPs, conflicting with the authorized DHCP servers on the network. This wiki article will probably explain it better. I’m not so good with the words a such.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
Fuzzypyro@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Honestly this sounds like a bit of a pickle. If I were in your situation I would just use one of the cellular carriers 5g internets. I personally use a T-Mobile 5g internet hotspot with a fresh tomato flashed nether 6700 plugged into it. Then I basically do all of my networking from that. Latency is a fair bit higher (usually about 30-50ms) but upload is significantly better than spectrum.

source
sewer56@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I can’t comment on the ‘device limit’ as I don’t remember being a thing, but I was at an ASK4 affiliated living quarter 5 years ago or so.

Back then I was able to plug in my router just fine. I disabled WiFi on it since I didn’t need it and used it as a regular switch just fine.

source
cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
probably protecting against the 5g. people might be allergic to it.

source
Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Man, things sure have changed since I was in college. The university had one /15 and three /16s so every single ethernet port everywhere on campus had a publicly routable IP.

Napster was so goddamn fast…

source
Cephalotrocity@biglemmowski.win ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Pretty sure you could end around their TOS by connecting a PC with 2 Ethernet ports to the provider’s internet and connect your router to the PC with the 2nd port. In the PC’s OS bridge the 2 ports together, and disable the routers firewall.

source
noride@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
It’s a security\legal risk to allow adhoc wireless networks within your environment, pretty much any organization above a certain size has the same restrictions.

You could theoretically allow anyone to access your router directly, which would let them bypass agreeing to the Acceptable Use Policy, for example, shifting liability back to the organization for that users behavior.

source
yhvr@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
While you didn’t name names of what app you were using for streaming, I just got into a similar situation with my dorm and what I found worked was using wired ALVR for my streaming. Not wireless, but good, long right-angled USB-C cables don’t cost a fortune. github.com/…/ALVR-wired-setup-(ALVR-over-USB)

source

-> View More Comments