My dorm rules say we aren't aloud to have wireless routers in our rooms, is there a way they'll find out???

Question

if i do have one...

Answer 1

depends i've had RA's who rarely came around unless you needed them for something and i've ra's who were there every week making sure you followed the rules.  just depends

Answer 2

Is the rule for routers or just wireless routers?

Routers of any type can easily be detected on the network it just takes a few seconds from the network center and they can tell where and how many!  

Wireless routers will first show up as a router so even they will be "seen"  checking if they are wireless or not will take a little more work but not too much. There are tools for Network Admins that do let them know one is connected. Then tracking the exact location takes a few more minutes of time!

Here is a quote:

"AirDefense offers a product called RogueWatch, the specific purpose of which is to detect wireless APs. The product performs its job completely automatically, in conjunction with AirDefense's proprietary wireless Intrusion Detection System (IDS). For more information about RogueWatch, go to http://www.airdefense.net/products/rogue... . "

this is from http://windowsitpro.com/article/articlei...

Be safe, follow the rules. Most campuses these days have wifi available anyway!

Answer 3

It's not hard ,Radioshack and many other stores has a detector ($6-25.00). you could also walk around with a laptop seeking a conection. either way the signal can be picked up at 300 feet or more.

Answer 4

Possibly.

I don't know where you are living, but in my dorm, we had an internet network set up and there were various places on campus where we could access wireless internet. I don't know if this helps, but my point is, you should still be able to get online in your room.

Answer 5

Well, they could find out if you have SSID broadcasting on. But if you have it turned off, your router won't show up on any kind of wireless adapter.

However, your college probably has a tech team that could detect the wireless signal, but only if they wanted to. I don't think they sit around waiting for someone to plug in a Linksys. = )

I'm not saying go ahead and use it, I'm just saying they probably won't know. They tell you that rule, but they might not enforce it. As I don't know where you go to school I'm not sure on the policies. I'm guessing they aren't super strict, since it's just a wireless router. They're probably more concerned about people stealing connections than anything else.

Hope this helps.

Answer 6

Just disable wireless networking within the router's settings. This will effectively turn it into a wired-only router.