Spotty wifi leaves students frustrated and unable to complete assignments
Sitting in the Olin Library with a deadline due in 10 minutes, I develop an overwhelming sense of panic as my laptop screen reads: “You are not connected to the internet.”
No matter how many times I reload the browser or disconnect and reconnect to the student wifi, the connection seems to get worse. I look around and ask, “Is there something up with your wifi too?”
Claire Lambert (‘21) responds, “Yeah, but that’s just Rollins at this point.”
We have given up all hope.
This exchange is an accurate representation of the past few weeks, as Rollins students and staff endure spotty, unreliable wifi.
Ever since Convocation when the student wifi needed to be rebooted, students have been leaving campus to find better wifi or scavenging for any form of connection on various parts of campus.
Students have also been more than eager to make their grievances with the school’s wifi situation heard.
It is easy to take students’ complaints lightly because, after all, we are millennials and it is just wifi—but on a serious note, it is actually hindering our education and productivity.
I nearly missed a deadline for a paper because Blackboard was loading for over 15 minutes. Eventually, I gave in and connected to my personal wifi hotspot minutes before it was due.
Most courses need ready access to technology, and it is disadvantageous that students on campus now only have unreliable access to online resources needed to be able to get work done at Rollins.
The Olin Library database, Blackboard, and Foxlink have been consistently unavailable because of the failing wifi, and it is wasting everyone’s time. I have little motivation as it is and waiting for wifi just amplifies the struggle.
It is also unhelpful that whenever a solution is requested, Rollins says that the wifi should be working. It should be working, but, sadly, it is not.
Students, as well as teachers, are still forced to struggle to get work done in a timely manner.
In short, the flawed wifi situation is a hindrance for everyone on campus. Come on Rollins, do better.
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