The main network used by Keene State students, faculty and staff members on the KSC campus is eduroam Wi-Fi. Since the start of the fall semester, several students have reported issues they have experienced with trying to connect to eduroam.
Brian Simpson, manager of LAN operations & engineering for the University System of New Hampshire, stated in an email, “ET&S strongly encourages anyone having wireless issues to submit a ticket. Since back to school, we have received the typical volume of client device tickets that have been quickly addressed and remedied, nonindicative of a systematic issue. While we rely on our network management systems to proactively report on potential systematic wireless issues, we cannot address individual client issues if tickets are not submitted.”
SImpson continued, “Client devices ultimately decide on which access point they connect to. If clients appear to have low signal strength close to nearby access points, we recommend toggling the device’s Wi-Fi off then on to establish a new connection. If problems persist, please submit a ticket. KSC academic and resident halls are designed for ubiquitous wireless coverage, but there are occasional times when coverage gaps occur. If you suspect one, please submit a ticket and we can survey the area.”
Keene State students have expressed concerns about whether or not there is a long-term plan to fix the Wi-Fi, giving their thoughts on why they believe eduroam is slowing down and specific buildings or areas they found the most struggle in.
Junior Liam Slattery expressed his concerns regarding budget cuts and how the cuts might have affected the Wi-Fi. “I know the school had to downgrade the Wi-Fi because of budget cuts so I can’t really blame them for that. I am not sure on the specific percentage cut but I feel the Wi-Fi was impacted negatively.”
Slattery continued, “It’s awful in different buildings especially in the science center. That’s where I had the most struggles with it the past couple of times. I don’t like having to reconnect every time I open my laptop, why does that even happen?”
First-year Tyler Donais talked about how the Wi-Fi interrupts his work flow at times and he finds it frustrating. “The Wi-Fi is good when it works but it does cut out a lot of times. When I want to get assignments done nothing loads as fast as I would like it to, it affects my workflow and even when it loads again it’s not as fast as it could be and that makes me frustrated, annoying to say the least.”
Donais continued and asked, “Are people or is someone specific coming up with plans or solutions to get this issue resolved as fast as they can, because how many more times does this have to happen for the school to realize this issue is ongoing?”
Junior Natalia Halliday agreed with Donias and said the Wi-Fi brings annoyance more than she would like. “Every time I am in class – I can’t even exaggerate – I lose connection or it automatically disconnects me, especially the past day or two. It’s been the worst.”
Junior Maddie Stoddard, who lives off-campus, talked about how the Wi-Fi has not been bad in her experience and how she only lost connection a couple of times when attending classes in Morrison Hall. “I think it was maybe once or twice, rarely I lose Wi-Fi and it’s not as bad as other people make it seem in my opinion.”
Junior Kayla Presutti agreed with Stoddard and said when attending classes she rarely had issues with the Wi-Fi. “The Wi-Fi has been good to me but like [Stoddard] said, it only stopped here and there but not too much. At least for me, the Wi-Fi recently on campus has been pretty good.”
Tamy Jacques can be reached at
tjacques@kscequinox.com
