Students cause of poor Wi-Fi connection

Recently, the Wi-Fi has been plaguing the Wheaton campus with unstable connection and inconsistent performance.
Many students have expressed the Wi-Fi issues they have been experiencing. Freshman Alex Prus said, “I have to switch between manual and WC-Internet frequently. With the Internet being so slow, I have to use my Ethernet cable a lot. This is especially different when I have to access my Blackboard (account) or do homework.”
Students having trouble with Wi-Fi is not a new issue at Wheaton. Sophomore Timothy Holland said, “The Wi-Fi last year was poor and all around generally slow. I even had to install my own router.”
Freshman Hudson Ades added a story of his own, saying, “During my online psych final, the Internet froze, and I had to restart my final. Thankfully, it happened to a lot of students and my teacher let us start over … Now I know to take all my finals always connected with an Ethernet cable.”
Many have wondered at the cause of all these Internet connectivity issues. Wendy Woodward, the new chief information officer at Information Technology, is working with the campus on strategic visions and planning for the use of technology around campus, academics, administration and students. She is also overseeing IT services and work with the library, faculty and student advisory committees.
IT believes that these connectivity issues have to do with interfering Wi-Fi devices. When students have their own, non-college affiliated wireless devices such as wireless printers, cell phone hot spots, gaming devices and wireless routers, the personal signals interrupt the design of the college provided service. This causes Internet connection havoc for all students and faculty. Many students have their own printers in their room for their personal use, and many have personal Wi-Fi hot spots that are blocking the non-Wheaton College wireless devices.
However, students can help prevent these Wi-Fi outages. Woodward said, “Students can take the following steps to make sure you are getting the best connection for your devices: Plug in when you can. A wired connection simply delivers a more consistent experience than a wireless connection, so use it whenever possible, especially when watching video.”
Woodward continued, “Report bad wireless connections to IT. If you notice your Wi-Fi connection is poor or that there is a sudden drop in quality, call the help desk at 630-752-4357, and they will look into it. If there are multiple reports in one area, IT can investigate the issue, whether it’s a quick fix or a longer-term solution.”
“If you have a non-Wheaton wireless device that might be creating a problem, contact the Help Desk for assistance reconfiguring it so that it does not interfere with others. If you know a floor mate or friend who is using a wireless router, perhaps give them a friendly reminder that it’s not cool to hog the Wi-Fi,” Woodward added.
IT Services will be using technology to identify devices that are causing problems and assisting students in reconfiguring them so that they are non-intrusive or removed from the network.
Woodward said, “IT Services will continue to monitor wireless network issues and evaluate whether additional adjustments need to be made to the network configuration.”
Freshmen Ariana Damaske said that as a student technician at IT, she knows that there is a specific team that is continuing to deal with the issues regarding internet connection, network and Wi-Fi. She added that people experiencing problems with internet connection can visit the IT office in Blanchard to determine the cause of their computer problems.