iPhone on the University's WiFi network? Duke - False Alarm
Update 7/23/07:
Apple has been exonerated. Duke University said its wireless network was having problems and that the iPhones were not responsible for the outage. "A particular set of conditions made the Duke wireless network experience some minor and temporary disruptions in service," Duke spokeswoman Tracy Futhey said in a written statement posted on the university's web site. Cisco provided a fix for the network issue.
Of course, now a security firm called Independent Security Evaluators (ISE) has announced it has made a successful hack of the iPhone by using its internet connection. Apple is looking into it.
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Technology officials at Duke University have reported that Apple's iPhones may be jamming parts of their wireless network. Such a problem is currently being worked on by both Duke, Apple, and Cisco Systems.
Bill Cannon, Duke technology spokesman, said an analysis of traffic found that iPhones flooded parts of the campus wireless network with access requests, freezing parts of the system for 10 minutes at a time.
Cannon alleges that one iPhone could have the ability to cause such a problem, and a recent check found 100 to 150 of them registered on the Duke network. Network admins stated that the problem occurred nine times in the past week.
It would seem that the iPhone would use AT&T's EDGE network or an available Wi-Fi access point (AP). If such an AP is not available, it would switch to EDGE, but it would continue to check for a Wi-Fi signal.
Ashok Agrawala, computer sci prof at University of Maryland said the phone could be struggling to regain a connection with a wireless access point, possibly when a wireless hotspot hands off to another. It is possible that the network parameters may not be set correctly for Apple's latest product.
No reports of other networks being affected have been announced. At University of Maryland, technology officials have reported no problems. The same goes with nearby North Carolina State University.
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Just curious if anyone tried to get an iPhone registered on Case's network. Any problems?
Comments
Posted by: Dan Oblak - MacBigot.com
Posted on: July 20, 2007 12:18 PM
NetworkWorld.com: Duke IT staff & their Cisco network confused by Apple iPhones; trade rags take bait
Let me see if I can wrap my head around this -- some bored students figured out what the MAC address range is on the iPhones, and they styled an attack using a couple of Linux machines hidden somewhere on campus to masquerade as Apple 'troublemakers', and are sniggering at the resulting buffoonery created between the Duke 'network admins' and the press.
Hello!?!??!? If these are actually the people responsible for Duke's network, they would have better communication skills -- what they are saying is happening is less unlikely than impossible (unless the iPhone and Cisco's routers' SuperPowers are being boosted by the Earth's yellow sun and are no longer hindered by their original design limitations).
Why has this been going on for several days and yet no one has reported the same issue on another network?
It's because: It's not happening on Duke's network, either. It's a hack. A scam. A ruse.
By some students who can probably be identified by a duct-taped WiFi canon made from a couple of Pringles cans protruding from their backpacks.
The 'reporter' should be ashamed for not doing his homework.
Posted by: James (Author)
Posted on: July 20, 2007 12:21 PM
I would have thought guys at Caltech or MIT would be doing that as a pet project.
Posted by: Internet Marketing Singapore
Posted on: July 20, 2007 02:51 PM
I hope nobody's gonna fall ill from the radiation.
Posted by: Simple Mind
Posted on: September 18, 2008 05:16 PM
Thanks for nice article... :) but actually iphone 3g still not available in my country :(
Btw,
Nice to see you and your blog news.
thanks.