I've got to second the difference between *banning* and *not supporting*. Banning a Danger hiptop from your wiFi network is like telling you you can't fly your plane underwater. It runs on cellular networks, and doesn't give a hoot if your company has a WAN or not.

It is a typical IT move to limit how much they have to learn in order to support the users... personally I find this horrible... if users want to use a Palm or any other similar device, it is what they choose to use to make their job easier, the IT department shouldn't make other peoples jobs harder to make theirs easier.

> Apparently, you could connect to the network
> previously, but not any longer.

Then this qualifies as a poorly run corporate network.

What you let your employees use as part of the job when that influence can't go far - ie; brands of pen and paper, is one thing. But you better be damn sure you know what is and what should be on your corporate net. Building perimeter security is no substitute for network security.

Some large companies lock MAC addresses to switch ports. This prevents ports from being used except by the intended device.

Well, they are being both "not supported" and "banned". Company-owned PDAs which are not BlackBerrys or iPAQs will be supported for a limited time. Privately-owned BlackBerrys or iPAQs will be supported with approval of the CIO and CFO. Privately-owned PDAs of any kind will be banned from the WDI network.

Apparently, you could connect to the network previously, but not any longer.

There's a big difference between *banning* and *not supporting*.