Playstation 3 network issue resolved

After significant research and testing, the IT Network group has fixed the issue which caused some older model PlayStation 3 game consoles from seeing the wired and wireless network. All residential students using PS3’s should now be able to connect to the wired and wireless network.
‘ Click here for information on connecting a game console to the wireless network
‘ Click here for information on using a game console in a LAN party
Details (for those who are interested): The affected older model PS3’s use a single set of circuitry for both wired and wireless network connections. It appears that these network interfaces are not following all of the industry standards in terms of wireless signals, specifically the quantity of ‘management’ signals which pass over modern Enterprise-grade wireless networks (such as the one in use at UMass Lowell, although we have found other organizations that have had similar issues). We discovered that the network circuitry (wired and wireless) on these PS3 systems was essentially shutting down as a result of what it interpreted as bad wireless information or too much wireless data. This behavior is highly unusual ‘ no other devices have ever had a problem ‘seeing’ our networks. We disabled a specific management-communication function on our wireless network and this appears to have resolved the issue. Caveat: we may need to re-enable this function at some future time, which may cause the issue again. If this happens, we will communicate the change.
If you have any questions, please contact the University Help Desk or Resident Technical Services (ResTec) in the following manner:
Phone: 978-934-4357
In person:
Lydon Library, first floor, 8:30a ‘ 5:00p (M-F)
O’Leary Library, first floor, 10:00a ‘ 4:00p (M-F)
University Crossing, Mezzanine Level, 8:30a ‘ 5:00p (M-F)
For students in residence halls: ResTec@uml.eduor 978-934-5027, 4:00p-10:00p, (Su-Th)
Regards,
Steve Hall, Director of Networking Services