Sorry, I clearly misunderstood. Sounds like you're looking to coordinate frequency use. You might be able to come up with a policy that enables continued use of what's in place today, but since much of the fixed hardware has limited choices, it would be hard to have a policy that's forward looking other than "check with us first".
Regards, Frank Bulk From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Brian Helman Sent: Saturday, July 07, 2012 8:56 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Institutional Policy on radio frequencies Frank, I guess I wasn't clear. I'm not looking to ban anything or try to overrule the FCC. I'm asking if anyone's institutions have policies/procedures as to which department specifies which frequencies are used on their campuses. In my own experience, we have our Facilities Dept purchasing and installing energy management and card swipe/prox systems that use wireless connectivity. Our Athletics Department installed a couple new scoreboards that use wireless and our Digital Geography Department installed a weather station. Some of these devices use 2.4GHz, others use 900MHz etc... My question is, does anyone have institutional policies on vetting installation of wireless systems so the frequencies can be coordinated to not interfere with other in-house systems? Your last sentence seems to understand that. Before I approach senior management, I want to gather ideas on how to deal with the situation. I don't like identifying a problem without suggesting a solution or two. Thank you, Brian Helman _____ From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [[email protected]] on behalf of Frank Bulk [[email protected]] Sent: Friday, July 06, 2012 3:35 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Institutional Policy on radio frequencies The FCC and NTIA govern frequency in the United States. You "control" short-range airwaves to the extent that your institution can control what is brought onto campus by employees, students, and the public. In the same way it's difficult to legally prevent students from bringing in peanut-based products into a location that may affect students with peanut allergies, institutional legal counsel will likely find it difficult to defend in court a policy that restricts bringing certain objects onto campus. In other words, unless you're the DoD, a strict policy may be non-starter. And don't forget OTARD. The IT department typically finds the most success with restricting 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz interferers by banning the use of those unapproved devices on their wired Ethernet network. So that takes care of "rogue" routers and the like, but that doesn't help so much wireless to wireless devices (i.e. Bluetooth). Since most of the device you listed are likely owned by the institution and installed by staff, it would be best to have work with IT upper management to articulate the reasons why managing the campus airspace is beneficial for the entire institution, get support from the highest ranks possible, and then continue your education campaign to all the relevant departments. Frank From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Brian Helman Sent: Friday, July 06, 2012 11:28 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [WIRELESS-LAN] Institutional Policy on radio frequencies I'm researching policies regarding the governance of radio frequency control at other institutions? This seems to pop up annually here where a department goes for a convenient/cheap installation of a product, which inevitably means the device - weather station, score board, energy management - is 2.4GHz. And we tend to learn about it AFTER it is purchased and installed. What I'm trying to find are institutional policies regarding who governs/identifies/recommends/etc wireless devices, whether 802.11 or not. I would like to present this to my management with the hopes of heading off "wireless" surprises. Thanks, Brian ____________________________________ Brian Helman | Director, ITS/Networking Services | (: 978.542.7272 Salem State University, 352 Lafayette St., Salem Massachusetts 01970 GPS: 42.502129, -70.894779 ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
