Network
Team:NOC has tried to build and support the fastest network for you: a network comparable to a medium sized ISP, built up in just a couple of days. It might not be perfect all the time. We will be providing blanket wireless coverage and wired network access to both venues and camping tents.
Key points
- To use the camp WiFi on most modern devices, connect to the emfcamp network with a username of emf and a password of emf.
- You have a public IP address and there is no network firewall or filtering. Keep safe!
- Don't set up your own wireless access point. This is a serious problem in such a dense event and here's why.
Rules
- Be nice and friendly! Do not do to others what you do not wish done to yourself.
- Protect your computer! We cannot be taken responsible or held accountable for any damage your devices might sustain due to security problems, power spikes and other such perils.
- Do not operate your own WiFi access point. This causes a major slow-down for everybody else. Here's why: Network/Rogue Access Points.
- If you are operating anything else in the 2.4GHz spectrum, please clear the frequencies in advance with us.
- Do not attempt to run a DHCP or RA server. You will be found and named and shamed!
- Cabling from your tent to the Datenklo must not cross any road, trackway or fire lanes (this is to electrically protect our network hardware, as well as to reduce trip hazards and vehicle snags).
- If you are connecting a Nanode / Arduino Ethernet / other microcontroller to the network please make sure it is using a unique MAC address. Many of the code examples for such devices use an identical MAC address and this will cause problems - if you aren't sure contact us.
- If you are connecting a switch, you need to contact the NOC if you are connecting more than 10 stations. You are only allowed one uplink from your switch to our network - do not attempt to connect multiple cables or to multiple DKs!
If you break these rules, we will track you down or triangulate you, but we'd rather spend the time maintaining the smooth operation of the network, so please don't waste our time. And if you think Team:NOC cannot locate you just because you're wireless - think again. ;-)
Uplink
EMF 2018 will have a 1 Gbps circuit out of the site, 1 Gbps transport from Sky For Business to London, and Internet connectivity from Sargasso Networks and LONAP.
Wireless
The whole field has been covered with many wireless access points to ensure the best possible coverage and to allow you to roam seamlessly without interruption. Naturally, there is additional coverage in popular areas such as the talk tents. The following wireless networks will be available:
- emfcamp
- This is 5GHz and should you should use this one in preference, if you can see it. The username and password are "emf". This is the most secure, WPA2-Enterprise.
- emfcamp-legacy18
- This is 2.4GHz and less resistant to interference, use it only if you have to. The username and password are "emf". This is also WPA2-Enterprise.
- emfcamp-insecure18
- Warning: insecure This is both 5GHz and 2.4GHz, and is for older devices that don't support WPA2-Enterprise. It's unencrypted, and people will likely intercept your traffic.
- spacenet
- This is 2.4GHz + 5GHz and WPA2-Enterprise, you can connect with a valid account if your hackerspace offers spacenet.
- eduroam
- This is 2.4GHz + 5GHz and WPA2-Enterprise, you can connect with a valid account if your university/college/school is offering eduroam. More information can be found at eduroam.org.
Use of the 5GHz SSIDs is recommended if your device supports them. 802.11b is disabled as it slows everyone else down.
Even if you are using an encrypted network, you should still encrypt any sensitive traffic sent over the air end-to-end to prevent snooping. Although some SSIDs offer encryption, it is only over-the-air.
We have airtime fairness configured on our wireless controllers, so if you wish to download large files please use a wired connection (there will be plenty about).
For proper wireless support under linux, you should have a kernel newer than 2.6.39.2. There is also a kernel panic with brcmsmac on linux 3.10.3 that can be fixed by downgrading to kernel 3.10.2.
WPA2 802.1X, encryption
Due to popular demand (and with security in mind) we provide WPA2 802.1X. This will encrypt your traffic, preventing attackers from sniffing your data. Keep in mind that this won't protect you from other network attacks and you should still be aware that you are at a hacker conference! Your link layer should be secure if you do certificate checking (see below).
You might think: "WTF!? Do I need to register a user and password blah, blah". Fortunately not. You can use any username/password combination using EAP-TTLS with PAP to login (example: "user: fbhfbhiaf pass: bgufwbnkqo" is valid), because we don't care who logs in and who you are. We just want to encrypt your data.
Users which use MSCHAPv2 (like Windows users with default 802.1X supplicant) should use a fixed username and password. You can use "emf/emf" or "guest/guest" as "username/password".
Client Settings
Also see Network/802.1X client settings for a list of OS-specific client settings.
SSID: emfcamp or emfcamp-legacy18 EAP-TTLS: Phase 1: EAP-TTLS Phase 2: PAP PEAP: Phase 1: PEAP Phase 2: MSCHAPv2 or EAP-MSCHAPv2 or PAP CN = radius.emfcamp.org CA = DST Root CA X3 SHA256 Fingerprint=A2:5F:69:B2:79:4D:D0:F0:EB:BA:7C:60:08:25:E5:A3:B9:42:00:08:6E:EB:70:43:D0:B3:EC:BD:CB:1C:73:2C
Make sure you check the certificate in order to know you are connecting to the correct network (you should check on both the CN and the CA). Check here for the complete certificate.
Services / VLANs
Different services / VLANs are offered on the wireless network. On the emfcamp or emfcamp-legacy18 SSID you will be dropped into the correct VLAN using WPA2 802.1X. Use the following username/password combinations:
- internetofstuff/internetofstuff (for the "Internet of Stuff" VLAN; for projects that should not be reachable from the internet, but only from the camp network. Does offer outbound internet connectivity, not inbound.)
- emf/emf or emfcamp/emfcamp or guest/guest (for regular user VLAN)
Please note the username AND password are case-sensitive.
Projects that do not support WPA2 802.1X should use the emfcamp-insecure18 SSID. Based off the MAC address vendor, projects will dropped into the "Internet of Stuff"-VLAN automatically. If you think your project should or should not be in this VLAN, get in contact with us. The following vendors will be dropped into this VLAN (for MAC address to vendor list see here):
- Texas Instruments
- Espressif Inc.
Camping area and workshops
All camping areas will be within 60m of a Datenklo (Data Toilet), please bring around 60-70m of CAT5 cable. Unless a sponsor comes forward for it, we will be unable to supply cable on site. We will be budgeting only for the infrastructure requirements and necessary spares to deal with issues.
Lay your own cable neatly from your tent back to the nearest Datenklo, and leave 6m of slack coiled on the floor in front of it. And please lay it so that it can be clearly seen that it needs to be plugged in - or you risk having your cable overlooked. At regular intervals a member of the NOC team will connect it up and enable the port.
If you wish to be removed from a Datenklo again, contact the helpdesk directly.
All of our edge ports are at least 100 Mbps or 1 Gbps, auto-negotiate, auto-MDX. Some may support PoE (802.3af), but likely not in camping areas.
Note that most of our ports will not support 10 Mbps - if you need it for old equipment or embedded things, please bring your own switch to convert.
Static IPs
If you need a static IP on the wired network, drop by the Team:InfoDesk.
IPv6
Naturally, IPv6 is available throughout the network and should "just work" for you. Team:NOC does not recommend disabling IPv6 if you have problems, instead try to understand the problem you are experiencing and get educated in the new world order. Contact the NOC helpdesk if you need help.
Multicast
We may have a TV & radio multicast feed from the BBC. Simply open your media player and browse multicast streams (e.g. in VLC's main window, go to the sidebar "Local Network -> Network Streams (SAP)").
This is currently working on both the wired and wireless network; you will have some expected packet loss if you use wireless though.
Don't forget to turn on deinterlacing to get a proper picture (press 'd' in VLC).
Services
- DNS: 78.158.87.11 and 78.158.87.12
- NTP: 78.158.87.11 and 78.158.87.12 (ntp1.emf.camp and ntp2.emf.camp)
- Nearest Debian mirror: http://debian.mirror.uk.sargasso.net
- Content distribution server - for use by speakers to upload their content to an on-site server - http://content.emf.camp/ . Speakers please contact noc@ to get an account.
Security
Recent vulnerabilities
WARNING: Bring a recent DHCP Client. If your OS uses ISC DHCP dhclient make sure you don't run a vulnerable version. https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/410676
Encryption
Please treat the network as wide open and full of attackers. Although Team:NOC themselves will not monitor the network, always assume that Alice flirting with Bob will be spied upon by The Third Party.
Any sensitive information including passwords must therefore be encrypted. Please make sure you don't use any software or web applications that send sensitive data or passwords in the clear.
The following mechanisms should be safe:
- Anything that goes through a VPN
- Any website that uses HTTPS
- Any application that uses SSL
- In the case of email, you need to have SSL enabled for both receiving mail (POP, IMAP) and sending it (SMTP)
- ssh and scp
- Where possible, use One-time passwords. Real tokens work best, many of those should be compatible with open source radius servers. Here is a simple Perl radius server implementation for RFC6238 tokens that works with ssh and other stuff on linux.
The following are almost always unsafe:
- FTP with login/password (are almost always sent in the clear)
- Telnet with login/password
- Email if you don't use SSL
- Webmail that doesn't use HTTPS
- Someone could trigger a password reminder and then intercept your email
- Websites that use HTTP (not HTTPS) where you need to fill in a password in the page itself
Possibly unsafe, make sure that you understand what you're doing:
- Websites where you need to fill in a password and your browser (not the website!) tells you it's going to be sent securely
- Websites that require an account but remember you're logged in
- The password may be protected but not the content or cookies that automatically log you in
- Any time your browser or other application brings up anything to do with a certificate
- Anything not protected with SSL: someone could be faking DNS answers to impersonate certain sites
Remember: if you're being stupid someone may feel the need to teach you a security lesson in a not so subtle way! (No, that doesn't mean it's ok to hack people just to see if their security is in order.)
Firewall
There is no network firewall. We operate an unfiltered network that is wide open to the Internet. There is no NAT, and everybody has a public IP address. This is our definition of "network neutrality" - a network that doesn't do anything whatsoever to your IP connection.
If you are used to feeling secure just because you've been sitting behind a NAT router, think again. You are now wide open to the whole Internet. Ensure your personal firewall is enabled and set to "Public Network" and that you have applied all security updates to your OS and applications.
FAQ
Can I bring a server?
Sure. You can host a server anywhere on the network, and the long DHCP lease time will effectively give you a static IP address.
If you would like to house your server in our data centre (NOC-DC), please contact us before the event by e-mail to [email address removed] 1 Gbps copper ports are standard; if you require a 10 Gbps port, you'll need to supply a DAC or SFPs (our end Arista-coded) with fibre.
Is there a server I can use to host data on site?
Yes, content.emfcamp.org will be available again for speakers and workshops to store data on site, providing faster access to local users. Prior to the event, the server will be online on a fast Internet connection until around August 23rd, at which point it will be shipped to site and won't be available again until the site Internet connection is up.
If you would like to use this facility, please e-mail the NOC. If you need anything other than standard HTTP userdir hosting (http://content.emf.camp/~yournick/) let us know as well.
This year, we intend to keep the content server up permanently, so the links can be used after camp.
Can I use the 2.4GHz band for non-wifi projects?
The following channels are available for adhoc/mesh/other wireless stuff:
- 2.4Ghz: Channel 1
- 5Ghz: Channel 136, 140
We cannot force you to use these channels, but we are trying to build a functional wireless network for the other attendees too. So please, don't do any experiments on other channels.
Can I bring an access point?
No, this is strictly prohibited! We need all available channels to provide good quality coverage for the rest of the attendees. Please do not be selfish here as you will degrade performance for everyone else, and we WILL track you down.
If you think you can ignore this rule because one little access point can't hurt anyone, think again. This page has the calculations on just how huge a problem it is for an event of our size: Network/Rogue Access Points.
If you are operating a village (using an EMF-supplied tent) that has poor coverage, we may be able to arrange to put an extra access point in it during the event to improve coverage. Stop by the NOC and ask.
Can I bring a switch?
Yes, but for stability purposes all edge ports are limited to 10 MAC addresses at a time. If you want to connect a switch with more stations, you need to stop by Team:InfoDesk and ask us to raise the port-security on your port. If you do this, you need to convince us that you know what you're doing and promise not to do anything that may harm the network - in particular, you must not connect the switch to our network by more than 1 cable (not even to a different DK).
My port goes up and down every couple of minutes
You have probably tripped port security. Most likely scenario is that you have connected more than 10 stations without consulting us (see answer to previous question).
Supporters
We'd like to extend our immense gratitude to the following people and organisations who have been instrumental in making the EMF network and uplink happen through their donations and sponsorship:
Special thanks to other companies that have gone above and beyond to help us: