In the world we live in today, it is pretty difficult not to be attached to technological devices. Everywhere we go, people can easily be seen with phones in their hands and laptops on their lap, especially within the walls of educational institutions. Some have even made the claim that we live in a time where everyone has become technology-dependent in one way or another—that finding an individual who does not fall this umbrella is nearly impossible.
Technology, whether good or bad, has become a necessity in our daily lives. With a constant demand for technology, one thing is essential, especially for students: Wi-Fi. The ability to connect to high-speed internet is a must for the Rollins community, and the school generally attempts to meet wireless demand.
In order to evaluate the sufficiency of the Wi-Fi here on campus, it was necessary to talk to a few students who live on campus and have to deal with Rollins Wi-Fi on a day-to-day basis.
Various students from different grade levels and experiences were interviewed atrandom. Seher Atwal ’21 did not have any real complaints. She stated that “the Wi-Fi is good… and it works everywhere. I never had any problem with it… plus, it connects fast, which is what I mostly want.”
On the other hand, Logan Weyand ‘19 stated that “The Wi-Fi is generally fine. However, lately it has been frustrating, I find myself constantly turning it off and back on. My friends have the same situation”. He continued on, saying that “Perhaps it has to do with the fact that too many people are on it at one time or there is a lag in the system. There have even been various outrages occurring on campus, maybe this has to with the difficulties as well”.
Talking to a senior who has spent four long years at Rollins was a necessity, as fourth-year students have the most experience working around internet connectivity issues on campus. Julia Pereira ‘16 stated that “the only time I have internet problems is when I am walking between classes outside, which is understandable. Other than that, I have not witnessed anything extreme or out of the ordinary.”
It is clear the various students have different perspectives on this subject, but why is that? Perhaps it has to do with their internet usage, the duration of their time spent at Rollins, and the different tasks they perform using the school’s Wi-Fi. That said, reccurring issues identify themselves in my interviews.
One can say that these issues are quite minor and any institution has connectivity problems of this magnitude, but the question is, “What can we do about it?’
In order to find some solution, it is crucial to accept the situation. Like Weyand proposed, there are hundreds of individuals using the internet at the same time here; our servers are forced to accommodate a large population. Don’t you think internet crashes and lags are inevitable? I mean, technology is man-made and with that come flaws and mishaps.
Still, if students ever have any difficulties and need assistance, the IT Department is always there and ready to assist. Rollins College does exceptionally well in providing a quality experience for its students, whether that involves resolving internet issues or any of the many other services provided on campus.
Overall, the various issues and outages that students have recently faced may be blamed on Rollins’ Cisco system. It is common knowledge that there have been many recent outages, including those on February 4 and 19; the first resulted in 3.5 hours of network failure and the latter a scheduled three-hour outage. It is also important to note that the most recent outage occured from 3 to 6 a.m., fortunately not giving students too much of an inconvience, as it was very early in the morning.
Altogether, these frequent issues are expected to happen at educational institutions because of the massive amount of data stored and exchanged from studens and professors alike. When I asked the average student about their feelings regarding internet connectivity on campus, they generally responded with contentment.
That being said, most believe it is vital that these power outages and network issues do not interfere with our education. Students with questions or concerns should feel free to reach out. The Rollins IT Department will always be there to assist your needs!
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