Internet connection across campus, particularly in Phelps Hall and The Courtyard, has been of poor quality for the past two semesters after the university lost its network engineer.
Students, particularly on-campus residents, have suffered from numerous internet connection-related inconveniences amidst online learning. It is likely the internet connection issues will continue for the rest of the semester as the Department of Computing and Information Technology awaits funding.
“Phelps has had a lot of trouble with their WiFi system. Phelps and The Courtyard have been two areas that have suffered a lot this entire academic year,” said Patrice Bruneau, assistant VP for computing and information technology.
“We’ve had hiccups once in a while, but it’s been stable. Most of the time, we don’t hear from Thomson or West Center or other places like that. We don’t hear from Lee Wicker that much anyway, and that’s the building right next to Phelps.”
The internet connectivity issues continue to plague residence halls largely due to the university’s lack of a network engineer.
“About a year ago, we lost our network engineer, and that’s the one person on campus that deals with network and WiFi and everything related to the network,” Bruneau said. “That
was unfortunate, but that’s the way it is. We started the search, and we had selected someone, but unfortunately, it was the first week of March [also known as the start of the pandemic], and then the hiring freeze happened.
“Unfortunately, even though we had selected someone, we were not able to hire a replacement. So, we’ve had to make do with some knowledge. We have one technician that knows enough to kind of do the first level of defense.”
Because the internet connectivity problems are most prevalent in the residence halls, students who live on campus often find themselves having to complete their schoolwork or attend their online classes in other parts of campus such as the library, West Center, DiGiorgio Campus Center or other academic buildings.
“The connectivity issues have been happening since last semester. It’s very inconvenient, especially when I log onto Zoom for classes. When I try to log on, the internet is either very slow, or I keep getting disconnected while in class. Now, I try to do all Zoom classes away from my room. I usually go to DiGS to get major work done,” said Tatianna Davis, a Phelps resident.
Due to the internet connectivity issues, some students find themselves returning home on the weekends in order to have reliable internet connection while working on assignments, which further detracts from their college experience, which has already taken a hit from the pandemic forcing many classes to be online.
“I have gone home almost every weekend this semester so that I don’t have to worry about a lack of [internet connection] while I complete my projects, which is yet another downside to this. It makes it even more difficult for me to make friends as a freshman when I’m gone all the time, especially because I live two hours away from campus,” said Ainsley McCarthy, a Phelps resident.
The Department of Computing and Information Technology has put forth significant effort in operating smoothly while no longer having a network engineer, but there is a possibility
that the internet connectivity issues will continue for the rest of the semester.
“I reached out to an external contractor and asked if they can help me because we don’t have anybody on campus anymore who can help, and there’s no sign of being allowed to replace them,” Bruneau said. “So they did come and fix a few things, and there were lots of problems last fall, and there are fewer problems this spring.
“We replaced some equipment based on the research from the external contractor, and we even asked them to do a total network assessment of the entire campus. So this is where they use their engineers, and they come on campus, and they put devices that monitor things, and they started in November and completed the assessment at the end of February.”
Upon completion of the campus-wide network assessment, multiple issues with the network were found, and it is very costly to address and fix each issue. But Bruneau is working on having these issues fixed as soon as possible.
“I had a meeting about the assessment last week, and we decided on three things to work on immediately,” Bruneau said. “One is the WiFi itself … I believe that we will have funding to work on that.
“I don’t know what the cost is yet, but that’s where we are now … I’m proposing to use the same process and upgrade all the other buildings, and until I get the cost, I have no concrete information, but my plan would be to fix it this summer.
“And then when we get to the fall, and we will actually have good, reliable WiFi, hopefully, people will not have to work online, and so it will be less of a problem. But still, it’s very important to have a strong signal.”
Winthrop students who have been most affected by the internet connectivity issues have made multiple attempts to contact the IT department and have not heard back. However, the department is working on the situation.
“I have not had access to the WinthropSecure WiFi since the beginning of the semester. It simply won’t connect,” McCarthy said. “So, we have had to rely on the WinthropGuest WiFi
instead, which is very unreliable.
“We have contacted IT many times, and they either do not respond or try to say that it’s fixed when it’s not. In order to get work done, we have to either use a hotspot— I had to get one specifically because of this — or go to DiGs during open hours.
“This has made it extremely difficult to complete work, especially proctored tests. Four out of five of my classes are held online right now. I know that other people in Phelps have had the same issue.”
The Department of Computing and Information Technology is hoping to have these internet connectivity issues resolved this summer so students can return to campus in the fall able to complete their work wherever they please on campus, including their dorm rooms.
Photo by Emma Crouch
Thank you Brynn for shedding some light on this and sharing my words! We can only hope for improvement next year.