By Alec Matuszak
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Reliable wireless internet access on campus is crucial for students. It helps them complete their work while they are between classes, in the dorms, or on other parts of the campus. It’s also used to leisurely watch Netflix in between classes.
In the past, some students have expressed frustration with the performance of the wireless internet on campus. The strength of the connection in many areas is poor, which forces students to complete their work somewhere that might not be the most convenient.
Freshman fashion merchandising major Melissa Lysse is one of the students having trouble with the university’s wireless internet. At first, Lysse thought it was only her phone having difficulty. Over time, she realized it was not her phone, but the school’s internet. “It works sometimes,” she said. “ [Other times] it just doesn’t work, it’s like I have no Wi-Fi at all. Upon their return from spring break, a new Wi-Fi login screen greeted students, and Lysse and others have noticed a bit of an increase in performance.
Freshman digital arts and design major Thomas Farrell uses the Wi-Fi quite often in Hillwood Commons. He has noticed that “the Wi-Fi strength varies in several locations around the school.” “In the library, the Wi-Fi is not bad at all. When you get to Hillwood Commons, the Wi-Fi isn’t that strong,” Farrell said. Despite the shortcomings with connection strength, the difficulty connecting to the internet has not affected Farrell’s ability to get his work done. “As long as I know where the strong areas are…then I’ll be able to work,” he said. Farrell notes that the Wi-Fi connection is often stronger in the morning, when there is less traffic.
Sophomore psychology major Corey Mitchell also has had trouble with the Wi-Fi. “It’s pretty bad. There’s very few spots where it’s actually strong. Most spots take a pretty long time to load,” he said. Mitchell said one of the weakest spots for internet is Pell Hall, while Humanities Hall and Hillwood Commons rank among the best in his opinion. Poor connectivity has affected Mitchell’s ability to get his assignments completed.
“I’ll need to go on a website for [an assignment] and it just won’t load,” Mitchell said. He feels as if it’s gotten worse over time. Mitchell has not noticed an improvement in performance after spring break.
Freshman business administration major Michael Orlik, has noticed the shoddy Wi- Fi connectivity. “The Wi-Fi was always inconsistent. It would end up disconnecting [me] and I’d have to reconnect…sometimes it wouldn’t connect anymore,” he said. In Orlik’s experience, Hillwood has the weakest connection strength. He recommends going to one of the neighboring buildings such as Khan. While losing progress on documents isn’t always an issue, when using Google Docs, Orlik admits he must be careful not to lose any documents.
Esther Cho, senior director of the Information Technology department confirmed that, “over spring break, we upgraded LIU’s wireless portal. The upgraded system includes a new login page for LIUNET, an improved user experience, an easier registration process for guests and some basic security improvements.”
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