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Duke's iPhone mystery reportedly resolved

By John Cox , Network World , 07/20/2007
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The Duke University wireless problem involving a few Apple iPhones has been resolved, according to Apple. But so far, neither Apple nor Duke has released any details about the cause of, or solution to, a problem that ignited a tidal wave of interest among IT professionals and bloggers on the Internet.

See also:

* Duke CIO issues statement
* UPDATE: Cisco confirms its network caused Duke's iPhone flooding
* Duke's iPhone wireless mystery sparks debate, rants, ponderings and Osmond Brothers nostalgia

A Duke spokesperson, via e-mail, says “We are still trying to get details about this ourselves.” Whether the “we” referred to Duke’s IT staff or the PR staff was not clear. E-mails to Duke’s CIO and deputy CIO had not yet received a reply. Confirmation of the resolution came via a short e-mail from an Apple spokesperson.

The wireless problem crystallized exactly a week ago, on Friday, July 13, as it happens, when Duke’s IT staff identified the source of intermittent floods of Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) requests as at least two Apple iPhones connecting via the phone’s built in wireless LAN adapter to Duke’s campus-wide net. The ARP floods, up to 30,000 requests per second, knocked offline sometimes as many as 30 access points, for 10 to 15 minutes.

As of last Tuesday, the last day Duke provided any details of the ongoing problem, nine such events had been recorded. The IT staff have been working with both Cisco, the school’s WLAN vendor, and Apple to puzzle out the problem.

They had plenty of help, from amateurs, experts and would-be experts who debated the possible causes, and assigned blame, in online forums at NetworkWorld.com and dozens of other Web sites.

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RE: UPDATE: Cisco confirms its network caused Duke's iPhone floodingBy aLTeReGo on July 20, 2007, 7:56 pmOk so what's the fix? There are others of us out here with Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers expecting a bomb to drop when someone comes on campus with an iPhone. Does...

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Its just like Cisco toBy Anonymous on July 20, 2007, 8:34 pmIts just like Cisco to divide and conquer, and keep everyone else suffering in the dark about their wireless product's issues. Take RRM 1.0 and its well-known DCA...

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All right everyone SLOW DOWNBy md on July 20, 2007, 8:50 pmWhy is everyone so quick to judge on this issue? Just because 1 idiot went screaming "the sky is falling" does everyone else assume that this is going to happen...

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It's ARP, what about theBy Anonymous on July 20, 2007, 9:33 pmIt's ARP, what about the issue that was reported here back in January, 2006

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I think the problem runs deeperBy Anonymous on July 20, 2007, 9:39 pmI believe Cisco is taking the fall on this issue. I agree with those asking, "So what's the fix?". I'd like to see the real technical issues. Duke is NOT alone in...

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Cisco/Duke IssueBy Anonymous on July 21, 2007, 9:52 amCisco Systems has a specific process they follow to address bugs and code anomolies. Part of that process includes public announcements including workarounds, permanent...

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