Disabling Wireless Networks?

An Ominous Coward asks: "The University of Florida student chapter of ACM hosts a yearly programming competition for students throughout the state of Florida. It is based on the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest, and for the past ten years has been very successful, currently drawing a crowd in the hundreds. However, this year was the first we had a problem with wireless networks. We doubt that cheating was the intention, as no one had SSID broadcasting turned off (as far as we know). Wireless networking gear is quite inexpensive now. And while we don't believe it affected the contest this year, we would like to take precautions for future contests. Is there any way to disable all wireless networking in an area about the size of a large lecture hall?"

Re:FCC

[Anonymous Coward]

Generally speaking, the FCC tends to frown upon passive radio jammers. The only way to get around this is to make an active jammer that merely replies to the signals it recieves (even if it is replying with garbage).

Re:This may be impractical, but ...

[lambent]

Coatchecking ... that's basically unreasonable searching. Unless there is reasonable doubt defined by the college Judicial code or a warrant, no one should have access to your stuff. And how do you even determine what laptop has integrated wireless? Ask politely, and expect the subject to answer truthfully so you can take away their machine? What if someone removes the logos and stickers, how do you tell then?

Also, there's an old saying ... if you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns. Or something like that. By taking away suspect equipment, you'll only be rewarding those who are better at sneaking around.

I do agree, however, that using a computer lab so that everyone is on equal footing is probably the best idea.

Re:This may be impractical, but ...

[jeffy124]

agreed. A setup where the host controls the show is best for this situation. I personally participated in the ACM's programming contests during their Fall '01 and '02 competitions, and can give info on the environment they use. (FWIW, we never got past the regional competition either year).

Basically, the contest was staged in a typical university computer lab, and all the machines were using some special image created just for the contest and installed that morning. A log was created of all activity from the rooms being used, and checked later (I think the admin did this via a router or firewall). Any activity other than the network connection required for the submission software got your team DQ'd.

Re:Disable Wireless Network

[itwerx]

Problem solved.

We need a moderation "-1 Idiot".
(Or maybe this is a clever troll? Oh dear... :)

Anyways, if you RTFA, you would discover that they are talking about students potentially using WiFi to communicate amongst themselves (or persons unknown outside of the area).
They're already wired, they're trying to prevent the un-wired from having free reign.

Re:This may be impractical, but ...

[jeffy124]

You're not constrained to a specific editor. You could use anything the system had on it. Emacs, vi, pico, some Notepad-like tool that was in the desktop (forget if it was gnome or kde), whatever. No special IDEs - just the regular gcc, g++, or IBM's Java SDK were provided and also used on the judging side (IBM was a contest sponsor).

The only real problem regarding editors was for emacs users, especially those used to their own config setup. But - those are the breaks of participating in such a contest. Though it really shouldn't matter much since more people use vi than emacs 2 to 1 anyway. (proof - fourth paragraph [oreilly.com])

Re:FCC

[AlphaOne]

Is it still violating FCC regulations if its in an unlicenced frequency?

It IS licensed spectrum! Or, more accurately, about half of it is. Amateur Radio is assigned a portion of that spectrum as a "licensed operator" and you cannot harmfully interfere with them.

In addition, you can't exceed the limitations given in FCC Part 15.

Make sure it blocks cell phones too...

[Anonymous Coward]

People could always hook up their palms or notebooks via bluetooth to their phone's data connection. If you're only checking for Wi-Fi signals, you won't catch cell phone cheaters.

Re:Disable Wireless Network

[kps]

Microwave ovens generally operate at 2.450 GHz, which only intersects 802.11 channels 7 through 10.

And the humans won't explode if you poke a few holes in them with a fork.

Disable Phones? Copper Mesh!

[clbyjack81]

What we really need to do is figure out how to disable wireless phones in an area about the size of a movie theatre or concert hall.

Actually, that isn't that hard, you just have to plan for it in the consruction. Before attaching drywall to the studs, put a layer of this mesh [twpinc.com] on the studs. That will block pretty much all RF based devices from reaching their towers.

Re:In the can

[harrkev]

At my job, people who do clasified work do this. It is called a "vault." And the radio reception in there is terrible. No music :(