also found the 2820 will do what we need in terms of restricting each mac address to 512K

runningdeere, why do you say its not possible - do you know something?

Instead of limiting by specific IP or MAC, which are easy to spoof, just apply the restriction to the whole network, keeps it simple and you dont need to ask students for MAC addresses.

I also have a few 'managed' Dell switches (but any managed switch should be the same) and I can restrict speed there but more importantly you can switch on or off each RJ45 port on the switch via the management web interface.

clever, I'm glad there are smart people like you paul!