A single iPhone is enough to bring down a Wi-Fi network, according to staff at Duke University in North Carolina. 

A problem with the university's wireless internet connection is being caused by iPhones making up to 18,000 MAC address requests to the network every second.

This in turn causes the specific section of the wireless network to freeze for a 10-minute period.

The private university is working with Apple and its wireless kit provider Cisco to resolve the issue before the new term begins in the autumn.

"The scale of the problem is very small right now," Bill Cannon, a technology spokesman for Duke, told The Washington Post.

"But the more iPhones that are around, the more they could be knocking on the door for access."

Matt Bancroft, vice president at device management firm Mformation, suggested that the problem highlighted a wider need for managing products once they are in the hands of end users. 

"As we get more advanced services and access technologies, being able to update settings, policies and applications is key to a vastly improved service experience," he said.

"In this instance, being able to manage and update the Wi-Fi settings of the user to ensure that they are only trying to connect onto the appropriate access points would resolve the problem for the end user, the operator and the network administrator."