Duke: Cisco tech to blame for iPhone issue
updated 09:35 am EDT, Mon July 23, 2007
Duke: Cisco/iPhone issues
The chief information officer for Duke University has issued an explanation of the service outages recently caused by iPhones. According to Tracy Futhey's official statement, the problem was caused by a "Cisco-based network issue" -- Duke is said to use a "very large" Cisco wireless system, one which supports multiple network protocols. But Futhey confirms an Apple statement that the issue has been already been resolved without recurrence, thanks to a fix from Cisco, and advice from Apple.
While Futhey notes that Duke is still trying to "fully characterize" the problem before releasing more information, he claims there is nothing specific about the iPhone that is responsible. Initial reports indicated that the iPhone's Wi-Fi roaming feature was to blame, since it would repeatedly hunt for the MAC addresses of invalid router addresses as it attempted to switch from one hotspot to another. This supposedly flooded Duke's network, and the university originally denied that Cisco had any responsibility for the outages. Both Apple and Cisco are said to be long-term corporate partners with Duke.
Let me correct your typo.
07/23, 09:48am reply
...the service outages NOT recently caused by iPhones...
krispie
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Sep 2006
Another error...
07/23, 10:48am reply
Duke CIO Tracy Futhey is a "she", not a "he".
Guest
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Nov 1999
Hey
07/23, 11:41am reply
I wonder if Duke, who several years ago made a big splash in "giving" all incoming students iPods, will start "giving" them all iPhones instead?
And, of course, "giving" meaning "we're adding $1000 to your tuition, but offering you a $500 device as compensation".
testudo
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Joined: Aug 2001
haha
07/23, 12:03pm reply
Thats funny that a college that is supposed to provide higher learning, would try to lure students using an iPod.
l008com
Professional Poster
Joined: Jan 2000
mini haha
07/23, 12:20pm reply
It's not really funny, unless you haven't been in the education sector. Pod-casting of lectures, and training materials, and...
It's all the rage. Haven't you been to the Apple iTunes U site? Pay attention. There will be a quiz later.
Flying Meat
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Joined: Jan 2007
mini ha ha latte
07/23, 02:28pm reply
It's not really funny when you consider.... actually its just not funny.
Jonathan-Tanya
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Joined: Oct 2004
Foot in mouth
07/23, 07:01pm reply
Futhey should have "fully characterized" the problem before blaming Apple days ago. She's the kind of "corporate partner" no corporation needs. I bet she'll never apologize to Apple for defaming them with a false accusation.
Titanium Man
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2001
foot in wrong mouth
07/24, 08:17am reply
The individual who blamed Apple was not Tracy Futhey, but rather Asst. Dir., Communications Infrastructure Kevin Miller in Duke's Office of IT.
With Bill Cannon, the Duke IT spokesman now speaking to the press, it is highly unlikely we will ever hear a mea culpa, a "we jumped the gun", a "I relied on my Apple bias rather than fully understand the full scope of the technical issue before opening my mouth" or anything even close.
Now that Cisco, once again, fixed a problem of theirs that looked bad for someone else, everyone's friends again.
But you sure aren't gonna hear any appologies.
MacKeyser
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Joined: Aug 2006