[Salty]

OK, I'm going to sadly be going back to a school this next semester with the WORST network admins I've like... EVER seen. They will not provide any Wireless access in dorm, when they networked the dorms they only put in one ethernet port per room thus every pair of roomies that both want internet access need to rent hubs. And of course you can NOT use a router on their network (Cause then they couldn't tell that you had a comp in dorm etc).
Anyway, my problem is that I've gotten majorly addicted to my AirPort express base station since I got it this last lil bit. And I thought when I was flipping through it's options that you could create some sort of invisible network that would require someone to know what the name of the network was to find it and access it.
Well I figured that would just be awesome to set up in dorm.

Basically what I'm looking for is a way to make my AirPort Express behave basically like a bridge between me and the rest of the network. I'd probably also let a few friends with WiFi enable laptops use it and what not. But anyway. So a few things.

I can't even seem to find in the AirPort utility a way to clone my MAC Address so that if for some reason I forgot my AirPort Express at home I'd still be able to plug in sorta thing.
I need to make sure it's not going to try and distribute IP addressees or something over the wired network. I don't know why or something but for some reason routers were not allowed because they apparently made our network crash because of something they did. I don't know if that was distributing IP addresses but either way they didn't get along terribly well with the rest of our setups.

As well would there be any way for the network guys to be able to see any info about the AirPort express aside from it's MAC address or?

Anyway... yah help would be appreciated.

Also if someone could explain the whole Radius thing to me that'd be great. Since I wouldn't want to simply make this free access to my network for anyone in dorm who didn't wanna pay their internet fees.

[Salty]

OK, I found the thing that makes the network invisible it makes it a closed network.

So it looks like AirPort won't allow you to clone your computers MAC address on it. So instead I'd like to try to Clone the AirPort Express' MAC address onto my PowerBook Any chance that'd work?

[ghporter]

Nope and nope. I have tried and tried and can't find a way to clone a MAC on any AirPort base station. But... just about EVERY other router in the world DOES support MAC cloning.

You should note that MAC addresses identify the manufacturer of the device, and Apple has different sets of MAC address ranges for their computers and their networking equipment; if the network admins bother to check, they'll know you have an AirPort base connected.

By the way, why bother RENTING a hub? Why not just BUY one of your own (they're cheap). They also slow down all the computers that are connected to them when more than one is online...they share through simply connecting all the send pairs to all the other receive pins and vice versa (oversimplification, but functionally that's what happens). You could also just buy a $30 cheapo router, clone ONE computer's MAC on it, and the net guys won't know without looking at your room itself.

By the way, I was ready to fuss at you for wanting to circumvent something at school-it is, after all, the school's network. But your explanation that they undersupport the students (ONE jack in a double room? Stupid!) changed my mind. Now don't go trying to host some online game or a website that sells term papers!

[Dork.]

Sounds to me like the network admins in his school are paranoid and incompetent. They also appear to see internet access in the dorms as a revenue stream. What other explanation is there for requiring students to rent their equipment?

Anyway, a more expensive solution is to find an old desktop Mac with an AirPort card. All Macs with an AirPort card can share their wired connection like a base station. If you get a Mac that's too old, it will only do the slower 802.11b, but that shouldn't matter. As far as the school is concerned, all the traffic will be coming from the one Mac.

[deuce868]

Originally Posted by Dork.

Sounds to me like the network admins in his school are paranoid and incompetent. They also appear to see internet access in the dorms as a revenue stream. What other explanation is there for requiring students to rent their equipment?

#1 reason...support. How many support calls will the staff get about "I can't get online" and they have to support every type of el-cheapo router that a person can pick up at BB or CompUSA.

I'm not saying it's cool...but just saying as a network admin myself there are reasons for this stuff. Who knows what their support resources are.

[Dork.]

Originally Posted by deuce868

#1 reason...support. How many support calls will the staff get about "I can't get online" and they have to support every type of el-cheapo router that a person can pick up at BB or CompUSA.

I'm not saying it's cool...but just saying as a network admin myself there are reasons for this stuff. Who knows what their support resources are.

There are better support alternatives. They could say "We will only support these models of network equipment", list the exact model numbers, and stock that equipment in the computer store. They could also say that students are free to use whatever equipment they want (since Salty is proving that they will anyway), but only the listed models will be supported by tech staff. And, as always, anyone using equipment that is causing problems can be cut off at the switch, without notice. Most broadband providers actually go further than this, and say that they only support computers, and if you're having problems with router hardware you're on your own. I suppose schools could do this too.

Renting equipment to students actually requires more effort on the part of computer support staff, because now they need to keep track of each unit rented out and to whom it is checked out to, keep stock on hand for replacements, buy new units annually to replace failing and obsoleted units, and chase people down who aren't paying. The only concievable reason for renting out equipment is the promise that after all the additional effort there will be profit. Either that, or there's custom firmware in all the boxes that is snooping for p2p music.

[deuce868]

I agree, a suggested parts list is a much better way to go.