By Chase Waite, Staff Reporter
Jason Simmons wasn’t in the best head space earlier this month when he arrived on campus. His beloved dog had died, his office caught fire, and his professor reprimanded him for being 30-minutes late to an exam that accounted for 20 percent of his total grade. In Simmons’ own words, it was “quite possibly one of the worst days” of his life.
Still, Simmons took a seat in his science class and pulled out his phone to clear his mind for a moment, except his phone had no connection. The campus guest wifi had booted him and he couldn’t log in for the remainder of class.
Simmons, a third-year biology student, is just one of the many Toros who have experienced connectivity issues with the campus wifi this semester. Having been kicked off so many times, Simmons said his terrible day forced him to take matters into his own hands – at a premium.
“So many of my friends and colleagues have been stuck dealing with inconsistency with wifi,” Simmons lamented to The Bulletin. “I actually started using my own personal hotspot so that if my internet messes up, I can blame it on myself and no one else.”
A reliable wifi internet connection is an essential utility nowadays, especially for college students. The Office of Information Technology took steps this semester to address the wifi connectivity problems on campus. The department sent out five mass emails directing everyone at CSUDH to connect to the “eduroam” wifi network starting Mar. 1.
The department promised the solution would help to alleviate the connectivity issues experienced by many students, faculty, and staff at Dominguez Hills. The emails also included instructions on how users could log on anywhere on campus.
Still, the CSUDH IT Help Desk reports that people have come to them with a range of issues, from sluggish connections to abrupt disconnections – up 13 percent since the start of the semester, according to Help Desk assistant Daniel Carrington.
The majority of cases, Carrington said, have caused disruptions to academic activity, stifled communication, and exacerbated the routine stressors of everyday college life. He added that at least 8 percent of reported cases have been by students who are connected to the “GoToros-guest” network rather than eduroam. Carrington thinks the problem will fix itself, eventually.
“It’s interesting to see so many problems with how students can’t connect throughout the campus, even being offered the new wifi network,” Carrington said. “It’s been about a month since the full shift to the new wifi started, and hopefully, the number of problems can be limited when heading into the end of the year.”
Testing the connection
To better understand wifi connectivity on campus, The Bulletin conducted an informal survey of 224 total students at the Loker Student Union between Apr. 10-11. The students were asked, “What wifi network are you using right now?”
The survey results seem to suggest that there are a fair number of people on campus who have not yet transitioned to the new network. Seven students said they use a personal hotspot to connect, while at least 40 reported having no wifi access at all. Meanwhile, 143 students are still connected to the GoToros-guest network, which Carrington characterized as being inconsistent.
“It’s like a game of chance,” said sophomore psychology student Mia Rodriguez, who reported using the GoToros-guest network.”Some days, you’re blessed with lightning-fast speeds and others, you’re left staring at the ‘spinning wheel of death’.”
The situation presents a real “chicken-and-egg” scenario: if students report problems accessing the wifi on campus, and the IT department sends emails about the new network, but some students never see them because they’re on the wrong network, how were they supposed to know there was a new network to use at all?
The final project of fifth-year education student Marisa Gomez focuses on student mental health. Her research, she said, may offer some insight into why the IT department’s emails about the new network may have been lost along the way.
“Over 33 percent of students in [California State Universities] are not spending more than 10 minutes a day reading [or] responding to emails,” Gomez said. “That is a problem itself, but with the school providing a solution to the wifi, could there be a better approach in enforcing the wifi when most students don’t check their emails?”
The IT department is always looking for solutions to new problems that may affect students, said technical analyst assistant Daniel Felez. He believes students will continue to discover the eduroam network as they become more aware of the network over time.
“We want our Toros to be happy and given the current rate, there needs to be some small improvements on both ends,” Felez said. “We are looking at some great opportunities for our department and with any issue here at CSUDH, wifi inconsistency should never be a problem leading toward the end of the year.”
Simmons, the hot spot user, welcomed the news of a more reliable wifi network – it almost made up for the bad day he had.
“It’s great to see how the problem may be on both sides of this school,” Simmons said. “I am happy that the CSUDH is actively understanding the issue and that they are locking in on the support from their help center, because they are always so helpful with any electronic issue.”
