Personal Wireless Router Policy

Personal wireless routers (or rogue access points) significantly and negatively impact the UA campus wireless environment. They cause the university’s wireless networks to deteriorate, potentially making UAWiFi, UAGuest, and eduroam unusable.

WiFi uses a radio frequency that is open for everyone to use. As a consequence, large scale WiFi networks, such as the ones deployed on the UA campus, require careful coordination and cooperation to operate well and provide quality service.

All wireless access points or routers in UA buildings need to be coordinated so that they do not occupy the same channel. The university carefully designs and operates the WiFi networks in each building to allow multiple access points to work with each other and provide a reliable and stable wireless environment for all to use. When a rogue access point is used, this carefully designed system is compromised.

When multiple rogue access points are present, the UA campus access points are unable to provide a clear usable signal for everyone to use due normally free channels being occupied. This is known as RF noise. When two different access points try to communicate to their clients (WiFi devices) over the same channel, their signals interfere with each other and potentially cause connectivity problems for all users of the campus wireless networks.

We want everyone at UA be able to connect all the devices they need when on campus. For some locations and devices this means using a hardwired connection rather than the WiFi network or a personal access points. By refraining from using personal wireless routers, you help keep the university WiFi network operating well and serving all community members.

If you have a situation that you believe requires a personal access point, please contact the 24/7 IT Support Center at (520) 626-TECH (8324).