Problems with wireless internet in the Central University Library will not be resolved before the upcoming renovation. This means students will experience difficulties due to a weak signal until at least September, according to an ICT department spokesperson.
The ICT department believes that an increase in the number of mobile devices is the cause of the poor Wi-Fi connection. There is insufficient capacity to provide everyone with a fast connection so for some users, internet pages load very slowly or sometimes not at all. A number of areas were not equipped with Wi-Fi routers because employees worked there with desktop computers. Now that these areas are also available for students with laptop computers, the Wi-Fi coverage has turned out to be inadequate.
No feasible stopgap solution
The ICT department has stated that it would take about three months to place extra routers and this would also entail cutting into sections of the ceiling containing asbestos. This measure has also been deemed too expensive. According to the ICT department “it would provide good coverage for a few months, but once the renovations start there will be the additional expense of repeating the entire process”.
University Council
The wireless internet issue has been the subject of discussion in the University Council several times. This past week the Council’s student members once again raised the issue, asking the Executive Board to find a solution. “A stopgap solution would be too expensive, especially considering the opening of the new education building and the upcoming renovation. That line of reasoning might makes sense, but we don’t actually know how much a stopgap solution would cost and whether it really is too expensive”, said student council member Korrein Volders.
Information
The University Library has announced it will inform students about which areas have a weak Wi-Fi signal. Expectations are that the problem with the wireless network will be resolved throughout the University Library once renovation work has been completed. EvR
