Internet Connections

<p>Hey guys I just had a few questions about the internet connection students are given access to at Duke. First of all, when you connect your computer to the ethernet jack in your dorm are you assigned a private ip (like 192.168.x.x, 172...etc) or a public ip (like the one most isp<code>s give you) which is reachable from outside the university? Also, what are the max download and upload speeds you get in your dorm and are they any different from the ones you would get at the library or in a classroom, etc? I</code>d also like to know just how strict Duke is about piracy. Is it common for students to receive warnings when they have been caught torrenting stuff or using other p2p programs to illegally download copyrighted material? Do you always have to authenticate to "get online" or do they assign ip<code>s based on your MAC address or do they just know what traffic is going to which dorm and that</code>s how they suppose they know who is responsible for copyright infringement? On another note, are students allowed to have their own router or switch setup in their dorms (if not, do some people still ignore the rules and use them?)? Well those are all the internet-related questions that come to mind right now, but if I think of anything else I´ll post it later and hope to hear back from you guys. If you think there<code>s anything else I should know about this subject please let me know either by posting in this thread or pm</code>ing me.</p>

<p>Ps: How is the wifi coverage in the dorms, outside, and other places where you might find yourself? Back 2008 Duke was supposedly home of the world`s largest 802.11n wireless network: Duke</a> University: home to world's largest 802.11n wireless network</p>

<p>The internet connection from my dorm is about 20 Mbps down and up symmetrical. However, your upload is capped at 5 GB/day. I’ve heard of students getting warnings, but so far peer guardian has prevented me from receiving any thus far. Duke isn’t too strict. The first few times you can just say it was your friend using your computer or something. However, if it becomes a habit, they probably will give your name out. Duke does demand that the accuser show proof before divulging your name, though. This has kept most companies out since it’s apparently pretty expensive to show proof for each individual offender.</p>

<p>The IP is assigned based on your MAC address. You will have to register twice, once for wired and once for wireless. You’re assigned a public address. You can configure NetReg to assign you a dynamic or static address (default is dynamic). WI-FI coverage is great on East and West. All the dorms, quads, and academic buildings are covered. I believe that even the gardens have wireless. It’s a little lacking on Central, though.</p>

<p>Thanks for your quick reply PPham27. Since the ip<code>s are assigned by mac address can you simply register multiple MACS if you have several NICs or if you want both your laptop and iTouch to have wifi access? I don</code>t really mind the upload cap. I`ve never been a big uploader and 150 GB a month for upload sounds pretty reasonable. Are there any download caps that you know of? Any idea about students being allowed or not to have routers in their dorms?</p>

<p>Yeah, you can register several devices. I don’t know the limit, but I have 3 registered. No download caps exist that I am aware of. I’d wager if you downloaded 100 GB or something extreme like that in a day, you might get message from OIT. You can have routers in your room. Recently, it has become a little pointless, though, because the dorms are already wireless. However, if you have an Xbox or something, I could see it being necessary.</p>

<p>sorry, not to hijack your thread or anything… but do all dorms have ethernet outlets (for hardline connections to the internet)? if so, how many ethernet outlets are there per dorm room?</p>

<p>I’ve gotten up to 54 Mbps on West. When we first arrived, the wireless was so slow people just set up their own routers. That just made it even slower, so OIT went all out on speed, and now it’s so fast it’s ridiculous. I have a lot of friends who are maxing out their 5 Gb/day so that they can have a ton of movies to take home with them since it’s so fast here compared to at home.</p>

<p>Did you get 54 Mbps on your wired or wireless connection? So it´s normal for you to get steady speeds of over 20 Mbps on West? What would you say your average speed is when downloading from big servers like microsoft or torrents that can max out your connection? Also, who lives on West Campus? And, wasn´t that 5 GB/Day cap only for uploads?</p>

<p>42 down, 30 up in my east dorm room…</p>

<p>What about torrenting and p2p? Allowed?</p>

<p>I can download 11MB/s off a usenet provider. The max upload I have achieved from torrenting is about 8 MB/s. (MB/s=Megabyte/sec not Megabit). My guess is that the 10 MB/s comes from the fact that the dorms only support 100Megabit LAN which comes out to 12.5MB/s. So it may even be limited by the LAN …</p>

<p>

Wow, 11 MB/s sounds good. Can anyone post their results from [Speedtest.net</a> - The Global Broadband Speed Test](<a href=“http://speedtest.net/]Speedtest.net”>http://speedtest.net/) ? Apparently Duke is ranked 3rd in the State of North Carolina.</p>

<p>Ps: fdasdf, check your PM inbox :).</p>

<p>Just realized I never asked this: Do you get a public or a private ip when you connect over the wireless network? Also, I know many current students at Duke browse this forum, so could you guys please post your speed test results from [Speedtest.net</a> - The Global Broadband Speed Test](<a href=“http://www.speedtest.net%5DSpeedtest.net”>http://www.speedtest.net) ? Thanks.</p>

<p>The max speed I posted was from speedtest.net (I think I PMed you a speed also?). Also, classes are out for the year (have been since like May 2nd) so very few of the current students are going to be able to post speeds.</p>

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<p>Ok, but I still have no answer regarding the ip that you are assigned when you connect through wifi. Do you get a public or a private ip? Does the location where you are connecting from matter? I mean, do you get a public ip if you connect via wifi in your dorm, but get a private one if you do so somewhere else?</p>

<p>Edit: I just VPNed into Duke to check. Turns out you are assigned public IPs. The IP addresses have 152 as their first block which isn’t reserved for private addresses. I also remember running an Apache server from my comp sophomore year and it was fine. So that should answer your question. </p>

<p>Also the location matters very little. </p>

<p>Just out of curiosity, why is it that you need to know that? Planning to run a server?</p>