uk Wi-Fi and 3G Hubs Banned From Olympics

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Wi-Fi and 3G Hubs Banned From Olympics

The London Olympics will be the first since the launch of Apple's iPad and the explosion in iPhone apps and Android apps but there's a long list of tech devices that are banned from the Games.

Of course the list of prohibited items includes some obvious stuff: knives, guns, CS spray, explosives and stunning devices.

But there's also an Olympic list of prohibited tech devices.

On the Olympic list of banned tech devices: Walkie-talkies, phone jammers, radio scanners, laser pointers and strobe lights.

A first for any Olympic Games is the ban on personal or private wireless access points and 3G hubs, which are not allowed at London Olympics events and venues.

iPhones, iPads, and Android phones and tablets are permitted inside venues, but must not be used as wireless access points to connect multiple devices. No mention of BlackBerry phones or Windows phones is made by the Olympic police.

Non-commercial photography and video is permitted but on the banned list are large photographic and broadcast equipment over 30cm in length, including tripods and monopods.

Thankfully large flags and oversized hats, as well as golf-style umbrellas are also verboten.

Source: PCWorld

[Vice]

They ban fries from food providers unless they serve it with fish. Then they ban you from entering the stadium showing any logo on your clothing that isn't nike, now they ban 3G to WiFi Hotspots?

As a person that lives in London I'm so over the olympics and all this bull**** that surrounds it. They can take the olympics and stuff it up their arse.

[mps69]

I'd like to know how they are going to monitor 3G and WiFi hubs.

If I set my phone as a personal wifi hotspot so I can connect my iPad, in a crowd of thousands how will they know?

Are they going to put 3G and WiFi suppressors in all the venues? This seems a bit over the top.

[Dick Montage]

Then they ban you from entering the stadium showing any logo on your clothing that isn't nike

What?

Anyway, this seems totally valid. There are reasons behind this, most likely they don't want to oversaturate the area with signals thus blocking those that are necessary?

[REM2000]

What?

Anyway, this seems totally valid. There are reasons behind this, most likely they don't want to oversaturate the area with signals thus blocking those that are necessary?

Agreed the reasons are valid, if you have 100's of wifi access points all in the same area it's going to cause a lot of interference with the Olympics own wifi network and perhaps some of their other wireless communications devices. Look at the trouble apple had demonstrating because of the wifi hubs creating so much noise.