14 DAY TRIAL // Princeton University's Office of Information Technology is asking students politely to stop using Apple's tablet device on the campus wireless network. Apparently, a bug within the iPad’s OS is causing hiccups on the campus network. Particularly, the University’s technicians explain, the device's DHCP client software stops renewing its lease, leading to disruptions.
“Network monitoring has shown that many iPad devices are causing a problem on the campus network,” reads a message posted on the Princeton University helpdesk site. “These devices are continuing to use an IP address they have been leased well beyond the time they should. (In technical terms, the device's DHCP client software stops renewing its lease, but the device keeps using the IP address after the DHCP lease expires. This is not a WiFi issue.) This behavior causes a disruption on the campus network,” the University explains.
“At this time, we have seen this behavior from (at last count) half of the iPad devices connected to the campus network. We believe this is a bug within the iPad operating system,” the same post reveals. “OIT has reported this bug to Apple. Princeton network administrators and Apple are working together to resolve the issue,” the knowledge base article says. “Until a fix is provided by Apple, OIT recommends not connecting your iPad device to the campus network as it is likely it will malfunction. 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 warning ends.
Currently, Apple sells WiFi-only tablets in the US, but plans to release a 3G-capable version later this month. Previously scheduled to launch internationally at the end of April, Apple has now pushed the tablet’s international shipping date to late May, according to a media advisory posted just a few hours ago.