OK.... Here we go!!
I need some feedback from people around campus on their view of using open wireless networks for accessing the Internet. Should it be allowed or not?? E-mail your thoughts to me.
Thanks,
Brian
:boxing:
Need more info. Open on campus? Open hotspots in the city somewhere? hotels?
I like the way UK runs their college wireless system. Open access, but you have to connect and register first, so they can still track activity of the illegal type :)
I made the last post... I hate XOOPS...
I'm going to assume that we're discussing on campus.
I'd love to see a 802.11 WLAN throughout the campus, and give my 802.11 card and my P133 laptop more of a reason to exist. Security is going to be an issue, though. We can't have any person just walk into the school's WLAN area and connect--there has to be some restrictions so that only students/faculty and other approved persons can get on. WEP may be a solution, but it can be cracked--especially on a high-traffic network like we'd see here.
And with the way Telecom has been handling the network (on the student side) lately, I'd be surprised to see them pull this off well. We've been having network outages like nuts over here in Bluff (see http://xo.kicks-ass.org/netupinst.html (on campus computers only; and don't tell me my code (or HTML) sucks, I know that already ;-)). I think they'd probably have serious trouble keeping something like a WLAN up.
It's late, I am rambling. I must sleep.
--Beanie
I think doing it by MAC address could work, you would just have to go register your wireless card somewhere.
Why is this in the Funy Bone section? I will move it to Questions and Answers if I don't get a good response.
The school could setup a Virtual Private Network (VPN) and users would need to register for it like they do to get an SIUE email address. VPNs are very nice, and most of the new wireless stations have VPN capabilities built in. Most large companies even offer VPN over wired connectio to their employees to access work files from home. However, I don't know if the OIT leaders have even heard of VPN much less know how to set it up. It's easy.
My two bits,
Jon
I was at the University of Oklahoma a few months ago. I walked into one of their lecture halls with my laptop and wireless card, and was on their wireless network without any problem. It was very nice.
This last summer I was in D.C. doing some work for the National Science Foundation. I was on a grant review panel. There were six of us on this panel, we each had our own laptops with wireless cards. NSF set-up a wireless network so we could sit around a table, access our reviews and we discussed them, and submit our final decisions in real time. It was way cool.
We should definitely work on getting wireless access. And it should be open. SIUE isn't exactly on the beaten path. The chances of a bunch of people coming to steal bandwidth is low. And even if they do come, most of them will generate revenue from buying double shot expressos or grande latte's. :-P
UK is the same as Oklahoma or similar I'm guessing, when you load up as a guest, you're greeted with this page:
https://ukwg1.uky.edu/login.pl?destination=
All it takes is an email and a MAC, and you're on the web.
QuoteShould it be allowed or not?? E-mail your thoughts to me.
can't exactly do that without your e-mail address.
here's what i'd like to see for public access: leave it open for anyone to connect, but shape traffic to favor registered users (registered by MAC, or even e-ID in the case of SIUE). let people connect with the lowest possible security (as far as WEP & VPNs go) without preventing users who CHOOSE to secure their connection from doing so. not sure how or if either of those can be implemented, but it sounds good to me.
i think pretty liberal access is important for an educational institution like SIUE, but also customer oriented for other wi-fi networks. in the private sector, however, it's foolish not to lock down everything you can.
pfft...figures. AFTER i post, your username becomes a link leading to the e-mail addy.