By Ariana Cano |Staff Writer|
CSUSB students should not have to deal with a faulty Internet connection because it is an essential asset and resource tool necessary to everyone in this day and age.
There should be minimal interference and inconsistency when connecting to the Internet.
Recently, there has been a dramatic increase in internet use as students are required to access academic sites such as Blackboard, MyCoyote, and EBSCOhost.
I have never had any problems connecting to the internet on campus until the beginning of the Fall quarter.
I had an issue connecting my iPod to eduroam, our current wireless network at CSUSB, mainly because I did not know the right way to connect.
I was able to connect after visiting the CSUSB Technology Support Center (TSC) where they helped me connect to eduroam in less than three minutes.
“If the wireless correction doesn’t work, it’s mainly due to the modules, access points, interference, the network/server, or signal may be too weak,” said TSC employee Scott Smith.
“Some things we can do to solve these problems are for us to allow better education for the user to understand how the network works […] it’s just a matter of them going to our website being a little more proactive,” added Smith.
I remain ill-informed as to what they did to connect my iPod to the Internet, as they did not clearly explain how to fix the problem myself if it reoccurred.
Often times, the wireless connection is not the issue, the lack of information from the user is the problem.
With technology advancing as fast as it is, it can be hard for users to keep up, we should learn how to adapt to technology in general.
It may be as simple as learning how to log in to eduroam, or connecting to wifi on our devices.
Still, there have been many situations where students have difficulties with the Internet on campus.
“Once in the computer lab the server kept going out and also in one of my classes the wifi randomly goes off,” said CSUSB student Peter Rodriguez.
“When the internet is working, everything runs smoothly. I don’t have any problems downloading documents,” added Rodriguez.
Connection problems are not only irritating, but can be costly in regards to online test turn-ins, quizzes on Blackboard, or submission of an essay electronically.
I believe to extend our connection, we could possibly get new routers, wifi extenders, or more routers for separate buildings that will give Internet users a faster connection almost anywhere on campus.
“An improvement on our part could be to have more access points and better signal strength throughout the buildings,” Smith suggested.
With finals coming up CSUSB, students should be able to rely on the Internet to work and the campus network should be a dependable source that won’t suddenly stop working.
Until improvements can be made students can seek help from the TSC for help with internet connectivity.
TSC is part of the Division of Information Technology Services (ITS) which provide technology assistance and most importantly resolve any campus technology issues.
The TSC is located in the Pfau Library Addition in room 1108 and can be reached at (909) 537-7677 for any tech questions or tech support.
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