Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
My school doesn't allow wireless in the dorms
- Thread starter fishniw
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
SSID is Broadcast name.
but just by changing the name will not take the linksys number prefix from being detected right?
At my college we are offered free wireless access throughout the whole campus...including our residence halls and outdoors. Each room has it's own router and access point. We are not allowed to have wired connections (to my dismay) which rules out usuing your own router. It uses the 802.11a protocol which is ok.
Of course, ours is offered free :]
Of course, ours is offered free :]
You could use a really cheap PC laptop (only need a wireless card), connect it to your wall connection and have it redistribute the internet by wifi. I don't think it would come up as a router.
CNET had an article on how to do it but I can't find it, a stock computer is able to do it, mind you, no need for special software or laborious set-ups.
CNET had an article on how to do it but I can't find it, a stock computer is able to do it, mind you, no need for special software or laborious set-ups.
If you have one of these Linksys routers that support the OpenWRT-Firmware, you could flash it with this to give you access to all kinds of advanced settings:
http://wiki.openwrt.org/Faq
You could change the first 3 code-blocks of the MAC-address to mimic a popular PC-Vendor, so you Router will not stand out as a Router when they scan the MAC addresses of their fixed network:
http://standards.ieee.org/regauth/oui/oui.txt
OpenWRT lets you also adjust WLAN transmit power on the Router. However this does not change transmit power from your notebook, so even if your Router does not register at a wireless network scan - the wireless emission from your notebook might...
Another good idea is probably to fire up the firewall on the Router, so that no services are visible from the outside net (such as a Web-Config Service).
Why don't you just use mobile broadband (WWAN)? You could either go on a contract or do PAYG. You could plug a modem with a sim into your laptop to access the internet. Mobile broadband is not that expensive anymore to use and the speeds are pretty decent now. I use mobile broadband when i am on the go and at college. I couldn't recommend any networks to you to try as i don't live in the US.
I was going to say this wasn't an option because I don't really want to buy another laptop just for this but I probably could set it up on my roommate's computer as its always "wired" in.
Thanks a lot for the info. Two questions though...
1. Where do you go to turn on the firewall on the router?
2. Would it be easier to buy an airport express instead of using linksys?
The OpenWRT Firmware enables features on the router that might not normally be there or accessible. It really is a specially build Linux Operating System that you run on the router and this gives you the flexibility to customise it and run additional stuff that would otherwise not be possible.
If you look at the OpenWRT wiki there is information about how to enable the firewall. Be prepared to deal with some command line *nix commands (just practice this skill on the Apple Terminal
). Also look up the supported Linksys-hardware, not all routers are supported.I have no experience with Airports. They are almost certainly easier to use (as I said, OpenWRT is really an OS in itself), but I highly doubt that you could implement anything similar. You are stuck with the features Apple makes available through their configuration options (changing the MAC address is usually not a customer-level operation).
Geeze you guys aren't helping at all.
First and foremost my college (Ithaca College) outsourced their residence hall networks to a goonish company called Apogee Internet.
They threaten disconnection if you use a wireless router or a router for that matter. There are no wireless networks in the dorms.
What I have done on the router side since I have a WRT160N is enable the NAT, Firewall, and filter NAT redirection requests. The "scan" they are doing is seeing if there are multiple requests coming outside of you wall outlet. It's a simple network command.
Once you do that disable the SSID broadcast AND enable WPA2 encryption. Make your network name "cheesewhiz" or something random and a strong password WPA2 password.
Sort of them busting into your room (which they have to inform you of ahead of time) they should not be able to catch you.
You can also get a switch and a wireless access point. That will also work very well.
If they disable my internet I'll just use Verizon's EVDo network over my cell phone. But then again I work for their IT department :-S
First and foremost my college (Ithaca College) outsourced their residence hall networks to a goonish company called Apogee Internet.
They threaten disconnection if you use a wireless router or a router for that matter. There are no wireless networks in the dorms.
What I have done on the router side since I have a WRT160N is enable the NAT, Firewall, and filter NAT redirection requests. The "scan" they are doing is seeing if there are multiple requests coming outside of you wall outlet. It's a simple network command.
Once you do that disable the SSID broadcast AND enable WPA2 encryption. Make your network name "cheesewhiz" or something random and a strong password WPA2 password.
Sort of them busting into your room (which they have to inform you of ahead of time) they should not be able to catch you.
You can also get a switch and a wireless access point. That will also work very well.
If they disable my internet I'll just use Verizon's EVDo network over my cell phone. But then again I work for their IT department :-S
Why is it that some colleges don't care for their student's Internet access in the dorms? Here in UNO, the university allows wireless routers, in fact they encourage it (as it off loads their own campus wide Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi is not available in the dorms, only ethernet plugs).
When it gets slow (like a weekend) I usually plug in my AT&T 3G USB modem or tether suing my iPhone (which I don't do much).
Thanks for the info. I know how to disable ssid and enable wpa2 but I do not know how to turn on NAT and filter NAT redirection requests.
hiding it
As for hiding it, simply find an old speaker. Open it up, and place your router inside of there. Drill some holes out of the back, and there you go. Just make sure to hid the wires (make them appear to connect to your stereo.
Speakers are great for hiding stuff!
As for hiding it, simply find an old speaker. Open it up, and place your router inside of there. Drill some holes out of the back, and there you go. Just make sure to hid the wires (make them appear to connect to your stereo.
Speakers are great for hiding stuff!
In case anyone was wondering if it worked...
-Enabled NAT filtering
- Disable SSID
- WPA2 encrypted
- Decreased broadcast range
Been 2 months and I haven't got caught yet. When my roommate tried installing a router earlier this year with none of the protection he was found out within a week so we must be doing something right. Thanks for all who helped, it is very nice.
-Enabled NAT filtering
- Disable SSID
- WPA2 encrypted
- Decreased broadcast range
Been 2 months and I haven't got caught yet. When my roommate tried installing a router earlier this year with none of the protection he was found out within a week so we must be doing something right. Thanks for all who helped, it is very nice.
This was the solution that I had in mind. Wouldn't this be allowed. It would be like having your own internet and not using the schools... no infringement on their precious internet. It's the same as not buying a meal ticket and buying your own food.
I have a USB Verizon device and a portable router that I take everywhere so I'm not dependent on others. You could even sell your internet connection for cheaper than the university and put them out of business.
The main reason schools don't allow wireless routers of your own is network security; there is no way they can monitor and manage your wireless routers; if your connection is compromised, it's difficult to diagnose.
Also your signal may interfere with the school's network.
Legally, if the schools says you can't have your own router and you use one anyways, it's illegal, but I don't think they prosecute students for that.
Anyways, if you plan to run a router anyways, make sure you enable bridging and makes the router harder to detect.
Why pay for Internet is when it's already provided. Frankly college isn't cheap and WWAN isn't either.
Also your signal may interfere with the school's network.
Legally, if the schools says you can't have your own router and you use one anyways, it's illegal, but I don't think they prosecute students for that.
Anyways, if you plan to run a router anyways, make sure you enable bridging and makes the router harder to detect.
Why pay for Internet is when it's already provided. Frankly college isn't cheap and WWAN isn't either.
Single Student Shuts Down Entire University With WWAN...
Somehow I believe that that idea is completely impossible. By the time you were to get enough people on your little network to make a difference, it would be too slow to be usable. You also have a data cap on a setup like that, so you really wouldn't get anywhere.
j/k on putting the school out but it works great for Starbucks and dorm rooms. Also works well when nothing else is available.
well you have 2 options relay you could either get a usb cellular from verizon, cricket,sprint,etc. or you could put a wireless router under something and in the settings you could change your network to undiscoverable so no one except you knows it is there and you need to connect to it 
wow, I can't believe how bad ISU has gotten. I had an ex that went there and ResNet was only like 40 bucks a year.... oh God, 6 years ago. I'm getting old... What about ANY router? Meaning an older non-wireless router? If that type of router is ok, could you first connect that and then your wireless from there???
Just block the wi-fi signal at the wall.
http://emsectechnologies.com/press_releases/press1.php
Wi-Fi Blocking paint. Trap the signal INSIDE the room. It's like a painted Faraday cage.
http://emsectechnologies.com/press_releases/press1.php
Wi-Fi Blocking paint. Trap the signal INSIDE the room. It's like a painted Faraday cage.
If you know how a Faraday cage works, you will probably agree that it basically involves setting up a metallic shielding. Paint which blocks WiFi would most likely involve paint with (heavy) metal compounds. Any material, how small the quantity may be, dissolves over time. Metal damp (even though in small quantities) isn't a good idea to breath in. This used to be a common cause for diseases in houses built in the US before 1978.