If you’re among the hundreds of students who bring their laptops to school, you’ve probably noticed problems trying to get online. During the past two weeks issues with the student network have increased.

The e-store on campus has students coming in daily to complain they cannot connect to the Internet.

“It could be better and it’s very slow. It’s frustrating because I can’t do any work at school,” said Eden Carter, a first-year student.

The Technology Solutions Centre, which handles the wireless networks on campus, is aware of the problem.

“We’re working on it,” said chief operating officer Richard Nakoneczny.

Since the beginning of the school year, wireless activity on campus has surged.

“This year for some reason we have a new intake of students who are obviously very wirelessly focused,” said Nakoneczny.

In just two years, wireless activity on campus has increased by more than 40 per cent. More devices means more competition to use the network.

“It’s not a bandwidth issue. We increased the capacity 20 per cent this week and within five seconds it was all gone,” he said. “If it was as simple as throwing hardware at it, we would have done it.”

“ It’s not a bandwidth issue. We increased the capacity 20 per cent this week and within five seconds it was all gone.

Richard Nakoneczny,  Technology Solutions Centre

The U of W isn’t the only campus experiencing connectivity problems.

“Most days I’m lucky to get on the Internet at all,” said Kaylen Noga, a student at University of Manitoba.

Limiting access to what students can access online is one possible solution. But that’s not a path Nakoneczny wants to take.

“The network provided for the students is first and foremost for academic purposes, but where do you start drawing the line at what doesn’t qualify as academic?”

Viruses have not been ruled out as a source of the problem. Anti-virus software is essential for any student who brings a laptop on campus. Computers found with viruses that could infect the network are quickly blocked from accessing the network at all.

Published in Volume 64, Number 7 of The Uniter (October 15, 2009)