Princeton University is keeping some iPads off the campus wireless network because of a glitch that causes performance problems on the entire system.
That’s according to an alert issued today on the university’s Office of Information Technology Web site, which says about half of the iPads that have attempted to connect have clogged up the network.
The university has alerted Apple technicians and is hoping for a fix, but until then the alert asked students and professors who bought iPads to stop surfing with them on the campus.
“iPad devices that malfunction in this manner while connected to the campus network may need to be blocked to maintain the stability and reliability of campus network services,” the alert says.
The Daily Princetonian reports that “roughly 25″ iPads have been blocked so far.
Last week officials at George Washington University said they expected that the devices would be incompatible with its campus network because of unusual security features used by the campus. But the Princeton glitch seems to be a different issue entirely, suggesting that the iPad may be getting off to a rough start as a campus productivity tool.
5 Responses to Princeton U. Blocks iPads From Its Networks Because of Malfunctions
eprandall - April 14, 2010 at 6:24 pm
Interesting
chemmilt - April 15, 2010 at 5:36 am
Got a Tiger by the tail here…
joemurphy - April 15, 2010 at 8:09 am
This is pretty poor technology coverage. It would only take a sentence or two to explain that the problem is that the iPad isn’t renewing DHCP leases correctly, which would be enough to tell techies what to worry about on our own networks. There’s a similar issue in the story about iPads at GWU, where you refer to “security features on their wireless network” but don’t go into any depth about the technical reason. Even if you’re assuming that most of your audience isn’t highly technical, you could equip them with the right vocabulary so they can ask meaningful questions at their home institutions.
rues0022 - April 15, 2010 at 10:20 am
I agree with joemurphy. A little more depth in coverage would make this story more useful.
salrosario - April 15, 2010 at 10:41 am
Apple has acknowledged iPad wi-fi issues: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/04/ipad-wifi/. This is not an issue only at specific colleges or universities.