By Will Scripps, Special to the Chronicle
This is the fourth year that I’ve lived on campus and I have few complaints. The residential halls are well furnished (even if there is a problem with the furniture, the team over at Residential Programs is highly adept at getting you the new furniture you need), properly lit (sorry Liberty) and have decent access to one of the food establishments. In all, there aren’t too many general complaints from the on-campus residents. There is, however, one issue that seems to plague most residents more than any other issue: the Internet.
The Internet on campus is very fast, when it works. When it works, I can easily get done anything I need done using the HU preferred network. When it works, I can hop on Xbox live without any trouble. Unfortunately, the wireless connection in my dorm, Nassau, is spotty at best. One second the connection will be flying, the next it’ll be stuck like a plane at JFK during a snowstorm. One of the residents in my building said that although he’d prefer to do his work in his room, he makes the trek over to Hammer Lab so that he can get a solid connection without fear of interruption.
Two students in Liberty claimed the wireless in their room was terrible. They felt lucky to get a bar of signal in their room, saying the wireless in their room is awful. They had resorted going out and purchasing two Ethernet cables to use. A group of students in Estabrook said that even though the nearest router to them was just outside their door, they had spotty coverage as well. When they plugged their Xbox into the wall, the Internet would still come in and out at will.
A couple of students in Bill of Rights said that they’ve never had a problem with their Internet. The most they’ve ever had to do is re-type their password at the beginning of each semester. Some other students in Liberty say that the Internet in their room has never given them any trouble either, although sometimes it’s a little slow when they turn on their computer.
If this article happens to spur emotions in your gut, don’t go on some tirade to the tech support guys. I called them the other day, trying to get help with my Internet issue; the representative seemed more than happy to spend the better part of an hour on the phone with me as he guided me through the steps of fixing the problem. Despite the fact that we were unable to solve the problem, the rep was very courteous and gave me ideas for further steps to take.
What I’m saying is that after three and a half years of living on campus and paying the money that I have, it’d be nice to be able to research how “The Awakening” has changed our perspective on the idea of the self without fear that in the middle of loading a riveting online article, I am attacked by the dreaded yellow triangle mocking me from the bottom right corner of my screen. Can we at least get a router on every floor or something?