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So My Friend Wants to Play Destiny @ Work... Let's Help Him

H

homestarmy

Diamond Member
Hi guys,

So my really good buddy has a portable setup for his PS4/XBox ONE and works overnight at a water plant where 90%+ of the time he's just chilling and making sure an alarm doesn't go off, etc.

He is allowed to play Netflix and YouTube on the network with no problem - it's totally allowed. But he's skeptical about plugging in the game system, as he thinks they might be able to read it as an XBox or PS and that might look bad.

Poor guy bought a mobile hot spot and is paying ridiculous prices for mobile data currently. He's such an awesome dude - my daughter's godfather and an amazing dad and helps me out whenever he can - and I don't want him to waste that cash that could be used on better things!

So I got a $15 travel router (HooToo from Amazon) for him. If we hook it up, and the system runs through it, they won't see that it's a game system plugged in. Worst case (aside from a boss walking in and seeing him playing it), they see some data usage and notice a new device on the network...

And my take is all he'll have to say is that he was plugging it in so that he could browse from his phone without using mobile data all night. That's my idea.

Are there any glaring holes? Knowing they're not strict with network usage at all at his work, is there anything I'm missing?

I'm looking for "general cool kid nerd" knowledge, not necessarily system admin support, which is why I posted here. Maybe you guys have been in similar situations or have friends that have? Any tips/advice?

Thanks a million!
 
homestarmy said:
Hi guys,

So my really good buddy has a portable setup for his PS4/XBox ONE and works overnight at a water plant where 90%+ of the time he's just chilling and making sure an alarm doesn't go off, etc.

He is allowed to play Netflix and YouTube on the network with no problem - it's totally allowed. But he's skeptical about plugging in the game system, as he thinks they might be able to read it as an XBox or PS and that might look bad.

Poor guy bought a mobile hot spot and is paying ridiculous prices for mobile data currently. He's such an awesome dude - my daughter's godfather and an amazing dad and helps me out whenever he can - and I don't want him to waste that cash that could be used on better things!

So I got a $15 travel router (HooToo from Amazon) for him. If we hook it up, and the system runs through it, they won't see that it's a game system plugged in. Worst case (aside from a boss walking in and seeing him playing it), they see some data usage and notice a new device on the network...

And my take is all he'll have to say is that he was plugging it in so that he could browse from his phone without using mobile data all night. That's my idea.

Are there any glaring holes? Knowing they're not strict with network usage at all at his work, is there anything I'm missing?

I'm looking for "general cool kid nerd" knowledge, not necessarily system admin support, which is why I posted here. Maybe you guys have been in similar situations or have friends that have? Any tips/advice?

Thanks a million!
Click to expand...

yeah no. plugging unauthorized devices into a secured network, especially public utilities, is ground for termination.

better solution is to find a mobile data carrier with unlimited data option.
 
Last edited:
The router won't hide anything. There are probably a handful of routers already between his network drop and the servers.
 
sdifox said:
yeah no. plugging unauthorized devices into a secured network, especially public utilities, is ground for termination.

better solution is to find a mobile data carrier with unlimited data option.
Click to expand...

I'm with this one. He's got a good thing going - don't blow it!

I thought this would be a more hardware-related question... I've seen those neat suitcase-style portable screens that you mount your game console into and plop it down to play - like this: https://www.ebgames.ca/Electronics/Games/315652

Do. Not. F*ck. with. the. network. I can't stress that enough.

Provide one's own cellular/mobile data plan. Upgrade one's cell phone plan to include it, or get a separate one - whichever works best/cheapest.
 
I don't like the idea that the dude monitoring a city's water supply for ~10 hours at a time is geeking out on Destiny when he should be working.

I mean I know it is a shit, rather boring job for a lot of that time and probably requires very little attention when necessary, but he's also a city employee.
 
Yeah, don't plug anything into their network that isn't explicitly allowed.

If the power plant has an open wifi for visitors, that shouldn't be an issue. Something like that, its up to the network admin to make sure that traffic is segregated from the companies internal systems.

Don't connect to the companies CORPORATE wireless.
 
If he can plug a foreign device into a public utility network and it allows him, then we have a lot more to worry about than your friend not able to play game during work hours.

This, also explains where and what's been done with my tax dollars, and why public services are mostly shitty.

Also, Florida.
 
Lash444 said:
Yeah, don't plug anything into their network that isn't explicitly allowed.

If the power plant has an open wifi for visitors, that shouldn't be an issue. Something like that, its up to the network admin to make sure that traffic is segregated from the companies internal systems.

Don't connect to the companies CORPORATE wireless.
Click to expand...

This

Unless it has a guest network that allows access to unauthorized devices, you don't plug stuff into the network. And even then, I'd probably be a bit hesitant.
 
zinfamous said:
I don't like the idea that the dude monitoring a city's water supply for ~10 hours at a time is geeking out on Destiny when he should be working.

I mean I know it is a shit, rather boring job for a lot of that time and probably requires very little attention when necessary, but he's also a city employee.
Click to expand...

So what is he supposed to do, exactly - stare at the clock for 10 hours?

@OP - I'd tell your friend to stick with Netflix. Online gaming is distinctive traffic - he probably won't get in trouble right away, but if somebody gets a bee in their bonnet about stuff, this'll stick out like a sore thumb when HR tells the IT guys to go find somebody to fire.
 
dave_the_nerd said:
So what is he supposed to do, exactly - stare at the clock for 10 hours?

@OP - I'd tell your friend to stick with Netflix. Online gaming is distinctive traffic - he probably won't get in trouble right away, but if somebody gets a bee in their bonnet about stuff, this'll stick out like a sore thumb when HR tells the IT guys to go find somebody to fire.
Click to expand...

I recognize a distinct difference between being able to pause a movie when an alarm goes off vs ignoring a horrible lead spill in the system because you are deep into a 3 hour RAID with 20 buddies, whittling down a boss timer. Just saying.
 
dave_the_nerd said:
So what is he supposed to do, exactly - stare at the clock for 10 hours?

@OP - I'd tell your friend to stick with Netflix. Online gaming is distinctive traffic - he probably won't get in trouble right away, but if somebody gets a bee in their bonnet about stuff, this'll stick out like a sore thumb when HR tells the IT guys to go find somebody to fire.
Click to expand...

Yeah there's really not much for him to do I'd think. Make sure nothing is going to explode, make sure nobody is putting anything in the water, looking the other way when certain people do need to put things in the water.

I had a job like that once. It was the most boring wasteful time of my life. He should ditch the video and work on furthering his life.

My opinions.
 
TwiceOver said:
I had a job like that once. It was the most boring wasteful time of my life. He should ditch the video and work on furthering his life.
Click to expand...

"Furthering his life" may very well mean working a boring job for decent pay so he can afford to take his kids fishing or something.
 
zinfamous said:
I recognize a distinct difference between being able to pause a movie when an alarm goes off vs ignoring a horrible lead spill in the system because you are deep into a 3 hour RAID with 20 buddies, whittling down a boss timer. Just saying.
Click to expand...

With destiny, it would only be 6 people max.
 
zinfamous said:
I recognize a distinct difference between being able to pause a movie when an alarm goes off vs ignoring a horrible lead spill in the system because you are deep into a 3 hour RAID with 20 buddies, whittling down a boss timer. Just saying.
Click to expand...

Hmm... yeah, I'll buy that.
 
dave_the_nerd said:
"Furthering his life" may very well mean working a boring job for decent pay so he can afford to take his kids fishing or something.
Click to expand...
Or, I don't know, something constructive like higher education, or learn a different skill so he can move up within the department, or the municipal, so he doesn't have to sit there watching paint dry. Just a thought.
 
SSSnail said:
Or, I don't know, something constructive like higher education, or learn a different skill so he can move up within the department, or the municipal, so he doesn't have to sit there watching paint dry. Just a thought.
Click to expand...
Individual priorities are individual.
 
dave_the_nerd said:
Individual priorities are individual.
Click to expand...

But didn't you say something about working that crappy job so he can afford to take his kid(s) fishing or something? Let's examine that logic.

So, he works nights, when his kid(s)s are sleeping, during the day, most likely they're in schools. If he wants to make more money, and have more time to take his kid(s) fishing, wouldn't he want to further his cause by bettering himself? So he can move up, make more money? Work during a time when his kid(s) are at school and play with them when they get home? No, instead he just wants to waste time by playing some games while on tax payers' dimes. The motivation is not there, so by simple deductive reasoning, his priority isn't to feed his kid(s) or take them fishing.

Sometimes, Occam's Razor just works; in this case, his priority is to play games. Simple as that.
 
Jesus... can't he do something constructive instead of playing video games? I have a hard time believing there isn't more he could be doing, and if not why he can't be replaced by a machine.
 
gorcorps said:
Jesus... can't he do something constructive instead of playing video games? I have a hard time believing there isn't more he could be doing, and if not why he can't be replaced by a machine.
Click to expand...

it sounds like an "in case shit happens" type job.
 
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