this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2024
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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)
(page 3) 50 comments
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[–] [email protected] 32 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Not a lawyer but if you have an email that says you can, I'd argue it's override the ToS assuming the person giving permission actually legally can.

Anyway I bet what they avoid is reselling access so I believe as long as you don't pay for yourself then resell to others you'll be OK.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Can you use a switch for wired devices or is that also a no-no?

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[–] [email protected] 52 points 2 months ago (5 children)

Mine didn't either when I lived in a dorm. I got around the network block.

  1. Plug Xbox 360 into ethernet wall port
  2. Log into uni network, get internet
  3. Plug router directly into pc.
  4. Assign router same ip as Xbox
  5. Spoof router mac address to match xbox
  6. Unplug from pc
  7. Quickly swap cable in wall from Xbox cable to router cable, Indiana Jones style
  8. Internet for 1 month. Repeat monthly.
[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 months ago (1 children)

TIL you aren't a wireless professional until your hacks comes with a cinematic soundtrack.

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[–] [email protected] 49 points 2 months ago (8 children)

Users are often dumb. Imagine 100 people who think they know what they're doing trying to set up a bunch of custom networking.

That's your dorm.

Most dorms either outright prohibit using personal hardware like that or require the schools IT department to install it themselves and set it up.

Run a network of your own someday and you'll understand. It's hard enough to get your own network working perfectly without a bunch of wildcards popping up everywhere.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 months ago (6 children)

They don't want you plugging in your own gear to their network, fine.

Get one of the "5G Home Internet" services from T-Mobile or Verizon, plug your router into that.

https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet

https://www.verizon.com/home/internet/5g/

Not on their network, they have absolutely no say over it.

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[–] [email protected] 50 points 2 months ago (1 children)

This isn’t rare and not altogether a bad idea.

My university had a problem of students bringing their own WiFi routers before the dorms had WiFi. Students would set them up incorrectly and cause a series of problems with colliding DHCP servers and interference and it would cause outages for nearby wired students.

A lot of IT departments locked the network down for these reasons.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Students would set them up incorrectly and cause a series of problems with colliding DHCP servers

That's an IT problem, not a user problem. The downstream ports should have been isolated at both the link and packet layers. Configuring a router to share an unrestricted LAN between a dorm full of untrusted users is a disaster waiting to happen.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

From the wording of the other rules below the highlighted one, I can only assume they mean you can't install a second router that they provide. I mean, it also says you can't install any "owner-supplied" devices.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Name and shame that crappy backwards university.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It’s perfectly reasonable there’s no shame involved.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

The part that isn't reasonable is the misrepresentation. The Ethernet ports in the dorm aren't allowed to be used with WiFi routers, contrary to what the student was told beforehand.

The rule might be fine, but not lying about it. If it was just a mistake, the dorm company should still attempt to make it up to the student. This was a deciding factor in choosing this dorm, by the sound of it.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Using your own WiFi router also bypasses the wireless security settings to access the school network.

Some resources are only available while on the network (printers, access to library, academic papers, other student hardware). Now imagine a random person in a coffee shop next door had u limited access to these resources via an unmanaged access point.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago

probably protecting against the 5g. people might be allergic to it.

[–] [email protected] 107 points 2 months ago (3 children)

The reason they don't want you using your own WiFi access point is probably because dorms are prone to over congestion if everyone sets up their own WiFi network.

If you wanted to fuck with them-and you don't mind spending money-then you could set up your WiFi and get internet via mobile carrier or starlink, so that you never actually have to agree to their terms. Then when/if someone comes around to bitch at you you can watch them slowly come to the conclusion that they've got nothing on you.

Otherwise your options are to follow the rules to the letter and live without vr streaming, or accept that you might get in trouble. Some WiFi routers can be configured to not advertise their network; annoying because you'll have to manually enter the network information on every device, but it might keep you from getting caught.

As for connecting multiple devices without paying; there's probably some creative ways to tunnel all your traffic through a single device to get around that. Could still get you in trouble if you're caught.

If you're doing anything that could get you in trouble with the school make sure you save the email in which they told you using your own router is allowed.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Some WiFi routers can be configured to not advertise their network; annoying because you'll have to manually enter the network information on every device, but it might keep you from getting caught.

Just name the network something like Samsung S20 Personal Hotspot. They're not gonna look into why a student created a Hotspot with their phone.

Or, shit - lock the fucking door.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

You don’t actually need internet for the VR streaming part, so you could just set up a router not plugged into the wall

[–] [email protected] -4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

You do if you are rendering in the cloud, e.g NVIDIA CloudXR. Not sure what OP plans to do.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (5 children)

NVIDIA CloudXR

that's an incredibly tiny edge case.

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[–] [email protected] 42 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Ah such a masterful plan, paying for your own internet

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Tbf you're paying for the college to provide you internet.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Ah but that one isn't your own it's shared

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago

I got news for you about almost every ISP

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago

While you didn't name names of what app you were using for streaming, I just got into a similar situation with my dorm and what I found worked was using wired ALVR for my streaming. Not wireless, but good, long right-angled USB-C cables don't cost a fortune. https://github.com/alvr-org/ALVR/wiki/ALVR-wired-setup-(ALVR-over-USB)

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