It will make the signal weaker?!?!

I understand a double NAT or some other issue like that. But plugging in a router into the Ethernet port in the room will make the signal weaker. Am I missing something here?

Currently the Ethernet port isn’t working, and he’s been trying to get it fixed for a couple of weeks now. So we have to get that straighten first before I go plugging in a router. I will be hiding the SSID to lesson the suspension. Anything else I should look out for?

KOT

You think that hiding SSID will lessen the chance of suspension on a collage campus?

Hiding the SSID will not even slow down someone who is properly equipped.

I think that the administration's biggest concern would be the RF pollution and WiFi interference caused by unruly private access points. Probably someone in the information chain the kid is quoting has paraphrased something after assuming that the resulting performance degradation must be caused by a "weaker" signal.

its probably due to security. how many kids would just set up an open wifi?


not worth getting your get suspended if the policy is blatantly clear. Hiding the SSID will do nothing

Why are you wanting to give him his own router?

Because he’s burnt through 5% of my VZW data in 4 days. At this rate it’ll be gone before 20 days.

There again, when the Ethernet port is fixed. Hopefully he’ll jump on his computer for whatever he does. But in the mean time, idk if I can change my data to something else and still be able to go back to my grandfathered plan once the port is fixed.

KOT

Doesn’t the campus have WiFi? Would be highly unusual if they didn’t. If you must you could use a cradlepoint and set up WiFi as wan so he has an “ethernet port”

Something doesn’t make sense here....

I can imagine that some data resources are only available on the local network, wired or wireless. If the kid does not have access to these resources, how is he expected to be able to complete assignments?

A visit to his faculty advisor or department head should result in the application of a little "heat" to the IT department. And, as a paying customer, you should be able to apply a little "heat" too.

If you are an alum of this school, the alumnae association is another "heat" vector that can be explored (especially if they think that you might contribute).

Finally, how well connected is the kid? I was on excellent terms with my professors, most of whom were politically well connected. If I needed some "heat" I knew where to find a "torch".

Re the details of what is supposedly wrong: people are terribly inexact when they try to communicate technical things. Hell, we do that here. For example, calling a BNC to screw-terminal adaptor a balun. Calling an RF connection a video connection. Calling an HD Video signal on one wire a "one-wire HDMI" solution... since HDMI has 19 conductors, a one-wire solution is no longer and HDMI signal...


No, it won't, because you are a parent, this stuff costs money, and you're going to tell him to cut that shit out. You have to control your kid. Both of you need to pretend that you don't have a VZW account and just bitch loudly to the college. It won't solve anything for him to take the easy way (for him) and cost you a bunch of money -- it will only make the problem last longer.


You can't leave it at "hopefully." "Hopefully" costs money when the person who isn't hoping as hard as you does the wrong thing.

Find out how much it will cost you if you lose your grandfathered account and tell your kid that if he spoils that for you, he will have to pay the additional amount every month. That's right, every month.

Don't forget that if your kid just keeps using your data account, he has no problem! Another place to apply pressure is your kid. When I was in college, if I had problems I knew there were people to talk to.

OK.. I'm no math major.. but 5% over 4 days.. Isnt that 1.25% a day? 80 days?


Or maybe just tell him to stop streaming so much? Use WIFI whenever he can?

not sure of this institution's reasoning, but Typically speaking the prohibition of routers in dorms is related to any combination of the following

increased RF noise and co-chanel interference with the enterprise wifi deployment on campus from the addition of 100's of wireless routers in super density (a router per student per room in a dorm, it added up quickly- this is problem what they were referring to when saying making the signal weaker)

unauthorized extension of the network, uncontrolled vector into the network.

often times the services available on the wired network are not extended to the wireless segment, but if you throw up an wireless router you are now extending those services to your wireless network.

hiding a SSID will not help you, and many networks on college campus will detect the traffic on the port from a router, and auto kill the wired port.

additionally a misconfigured counter can cause looping issues depending on how the network is designed and if/ how RSTP is implemented

from a security standpoint throwing your own router up can obfuscate a malicious device's MAC, and make it more challenging to locate or blacklist a said device.

Yeah, this is where Im getting confused too. If not, I definitely dont see what the problem would be connecting an access point to the Ethernet port

We didn't have WiFi's when I was in college.

UC, Xavier, and NKU all use Aruba. Its actually very good at UC and NKU.

But this kid's bittorrents are downloading faster than ever before!

That's why the college won't let him use his own router. MPAA and RIAA come down on the school.

What College does he go to?