Calit2 Wireless Usage Etiquette

This document provides wireless usage policies for the Calit2 building intended to insure reliable production "UCSD" (SID) wireless access, and where/when possible allow for the coexistence of research wireless activities (as long as they do not interfere with production wireless usage). In general, the illumination or relocation of private access points in the Calit2 building should not take place without prior coordination with Greg Hidley, the UCSD Division CIO. From a UCSD policy perspective, all UCSD RF air space is considered a campus wide resource and comes under campus policy rules and all research devices using that space require coordination with UCSD Network Operations and Telecommunications. Given that we have near blanket UCSD WiFi coverage in Calit2, adding experimental access points is a challenge but not impossible. Depending on location it may be possible to choose a non conflicting channel from those (usually 3, channels 1, 6, or 11) available. Making it a closed network in some way (requiring encryption or not advertising SIDs) would also be required to avoid regular production users connecting and getting dead air or bad routing. Research networks should also use SIDs different from "UCSD". Given the currently limited usage of the 802.11a band, its greater channel availability, and its presence on non-conflicting frequencies (with 802.11b and 802.11g users), 802.11a experimental networks may be able to coexist more easily with production wireless services. Auto-channel negotiation should also be avoided. Please contact Greg Hidley for further advice in this area. If you wish to setup research access points, please provide technical details and ideally an analysis of the spectrum in the proposed location[s] to help us determine visible signals in the area and appropriate settings needed to avoid potential interference with and by other networks.