Wi-Fi and cable services have been an issue for students on campus for a number of years. Phones and laptops often suddenly disconnect from the network, or students find their TVs cannot receive cable service.
This has caused headaches for students and Information Technology (IT) officials alike, and the department can finally say that new projects are in the works that should improve the student and faculty experience with technology.
The internet for the university comes from the service provider Oarnet, a company that provides internet services to most of the higher education institutions in the state of Ohio.
The wireless system that the university currently has was purchased nine years ago. However, much of the student body in 2007 didn’t have laptops or smart phones to connect to Wi-Fi.
“You’ve got to ask yourself, ‘Why did the university buy a wireless system that only allows one device per person?’ But thinking back then, only one-third of the students had laptops, and no one had smart phones,” network engineer Paul Ferne said.
Of course, as the average amount of devices each student needed to connect to Wi-Fi increased, the network became more saturated, resulting in the sluggish service students are experiencing now.
Many students using Apple products have had more issues with the Wi-Fi than those who don’t.
The industry has changed to using a certificate to connect to Wi-Fi networks rather than the use of a password, which is why students had to reconnect to the Wi-Fi this fall.
While this is a minor inconvenience now, students will no longer have to change their password for the Wi-Fi network every 90 days. There is no longer a password change required for their school account—devices are approved for the entire year.
A wireless upgrade project has already started this year and should be finished in the next two and a half to three years.
The university recently approved IT’s decision to buy a higher tier price for data rates, which should triple the bandwidth of the internet service.
“Data rates are changing, we just don’t know exactly when,” senior systems administrator Chris Healey said. “We’re still trying to get the wireless infrastructure in place.”
They hope that this change with internet service will be finished up in the next five weeks, although it could take a little longer than expected. The increase in bandwidth is most definitely needed for the open house of the new Convergent Media Center on campus on Nov. 12.
Rewiring has also started in the residence halls over the summer as part of the plans for a new Wi-Fi system.
The campus only has a total of 350 access points now, but the future plan is to have one in every other room in residence halls.
This has already started, as most dorms have already had a small silver covered box put above the doors. These are where access points for Wi-Fi connection will be installed.
The first priority in this plan is to improve the Wi-Fi connection in residence halls, then the project will focus on improving the connection in academic buildings and for faculty and staff.
Cable service at the university is provided by Time Warner Cable. This has also faced industry changes.
The company wanted to change TVs from analog to digital cable service, meaning that TVs need a feature called a clear QAM tuner.
TVs without the QAM tuner are often cheaper than those with a tuner, so some students own TVs that have issues with the cable service. However, only a small percentage of TVs have had issues with cable service due to not having this tuner, and a few brands of televisions have been deemed as problematic.
IT has been working with the cable company to get converter boxes for students. This would change the signal so TVs with no tuner can have cable service.
“Our plan is to work with Res Life to get cable converter boxes out to students who need them,” associate IT director Annette Short said. “Or we could give students the specific make and model of the box so they could buy it on their own.”
IT has tried to make this as affordable as possible by picking inexpensive cable boxes in the selection they tested. The price range of these boxes is between $26-$50.
They urge students to buy only the brands of boxes they have approved, as other brands will not work properly.
Officials from IT emphasized the fact that this was cable company initiative, and the university would not have chosen to just suddenly make this change.
They understand that the university residence halls are where students have to live, and a reliable Wi-Fi network makes it feel like more of a home.
They hope that these changes will create a better experience for students and keep devices working efficiently.
