Georgia Tech Implements Wireless Campus Net

Kenneth Atchinson writes: "This article, which is also publishd in the Ga Tech Alumni magazine, describes how The Georgia Institute of Technology (Ga Tech) is implementing a Campus-Wide Wireless Network. The LAWN (Local Area Wireless/Walkup Network)will cover 15 buildings including their library. They are using high speed, standards based 802.11 hardware. With the LAWN, a campus person with a laptop and a wireless LAN card can access the Net on campus, and maintain their connection while walking between buildings. But don't run to Ga Tech for free access, as they have some kind network authentication scheme to keep non-Ga Tech people off their Net. Kinda make you wish you were in College again, heh? Go Jackets!!!"

Comments

Unintended usage

[CyberDawg]

In 1998, I was invited to make a presentation to a state licensing board showing them ways people could use technology to cheat on their license exams. Preparing for that seminar was the most fun I'd had in a long time! Why is that relevant?

Imagine, if you will, hundreds of students taking a test in a large classroom. One of them, near the back of the room, perhaps, has a little chat session running on his handheld, allowing his friend who took that test during the previous period to feed him all kinds of useful information. Hmmm.

Coming up with a dozen other ways to cheat on exams using a campus-wide wireless network is left as an exersize for the reader. Coming up with a reliable way to prevent such cheating is a great career move for anyone interested in an IT position with the school.

So?

[Wakko Warner]

Wake Forest has been doing this for a couple of years too. Actually, PLENTY of colleges have been doing this! Why is this news??

- A.P.

--
* CmdrTaco is an idiot.

Point the finger

[deran9ed]

Imagine, if you will, hundreds of students taking a test in a large classroom. One of them, near the back of the room, perhaps, has a little chat session running on his handheld, allowing his friend who took that test during the previous period to feed him all kinds of useful information. Hmmm.

Now imagine if you will, a professor who took the time to wander through that large classroom or assistants along with the professor who monitored what was going on during the exam instead of sitting back reading the latest news instead of doing his job

Coming up with a dozen other ways to cheat on exams using a campus-wide wireless network is left as an exersize for the reader. Coming up with a reliable way to prevent such cheating is a great career move for anyone interested in an IT position with the school.

People are people and they don't neccessarily need a wireless device to cheat on an exam as they've done so for years before computers were even used in school, so this argument to me is a bit meaningless.

I will take note though that some of these campuses are overspending budget funds by purchasing some of these services (Internet based) I mean think about it on a reality based level, do you need a T1 or even a fraction of one coming into a college dorm? Sure they need net access to study but a better method would have been a reimbursement based plan to pay what they use, this way tax payer dollars stay down, colleges can purchase more, overspending is cut down, and abuse doesn't skyrocket.

Where in the world is SpeedyGrl

Re:Security Implementation HOWTO?

[Aztech]

The Georgia Tech design uses the IP Tables firewall functions in the latest Linux kernel to provide the packet-filtering operation. When a client joins the wireless/walk-up network, the firewall/router hands out a DHCP address. To authorize access, the client must open a Web browser. The HTTP or HTTPS (HTTP Secure) request from the client triggers an automatic redirect to an authentication page from the gateway, and the authentication request is passed to a Kerberos server. If authentication is successful, a PERL script adds the IP address to the rules file, making it a "known" address to the IP Tables firewall process

There was some papers available from their site, however it seems to be firewalled now, but it's still available through google cache. Here's the intro page

There's also some papers here and here

On an unrelated note, there's been some research on locating users using 802.11b.

In local campus news today...

[devphil]

...two Computer Science students were treated for broken noses and released, after a full-on collision on the sidewalk. Both students were crossing campus in between courses, and were completely engrossed in the Q3 CTF games running on their respective palmtops.