472

Student dorm does not allow wifi routers (linux.community)

submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by mat@linux.community to c/technology@lemmy.world

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I just moved into a student dorm for a semester abroad, and beforehand I emailed them asking whether they had ethernet ports to plug my router into (I use it to connect all my devices, and for WiVRn VR streaming). They confirmed that I could, but now that I'm here the wifi login portal is asking me to accept these terms from the ISP, which forbid plugging in a router. There's another clause that forbids "Disruptive Devices" entirely, defined as:

“Disruptive Device” means any device that prevents or interferes with our provision of the 4Wireless to other customers (such as a wireless access point such as wireless routers) or any other device used by you in breach of the Acceptable Use Policy;

So what are my options? I don't think I can use this service without accepting the terms, but also I was told by the student dorm support that I could bring a router, which contradicts this.

EDIT: some additional context:

dorm provider is a company separate from my uni (they have an agreement but that's it)
ISP (ask4) is totally separate from dorm provider, and have installed a mesh network that requires an account. On account creation, there are many upsells including one for connecting more than one device. The "free" plan only allows me to sign in on a single device, and I can upgrade to two devices for 15 pounds.
ethernet requires login too
VR streaming requires a high performance wifi 6 network, which is why I bought this router (Archer C6 from tp-link)

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[-] moo@lemmy.moocloud.party 2 points 3 months ago

I think a lot of the suggestions here pretty solid; you can essentially do them all. I ran a similar setup, but it was not double NAT just data capped so I had to toggle my MAC every now and then.

If you do introduce a switch from the wall, you can at least get your gaming devices directly on. You can then run Wifi network off the router for your phone, and WiVRn.

As others have mentioned though these terms are there for security, your WiFi is a risk to the network. If the school is on your side and you are prepared to mitigate that risk by keeping the router updated and choosing strong auth, you could even tune the transmit power and rssi drop off but I have a feeling if they understood you were going to run WiFi and not just a switch they also would have said no.

So this setup could put you at risk of losing internet I guess according to those terms

[-] mat@linux.community 2 points 3 months ago

Yeah, I get why they do it security-wise (but am mad about the surprise extracting money part, which was not in the dorm contract!). The dorm isn't from uni (it's a third party) but they did seem on my side given they said I could indeed bring a router... the ISP is the problem here. I think I will feign ignorance and set the settings as low as they'll go while still being able to maintain a good connexion to the headset. Maybe hide the SSID too (it has my name on it lol).

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this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2024

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