KELSEY WEISS
STAFF WRITER
Alma College students lost the cable in dorm rooms, instead supposedly giving them faster internet. However, they say that the wi-fi has not improved and many are not happy.
“I would much rather have my cable back than have faster internet because the internet is the same if not worse than before,” said Samantha Squires (‘20).
The decision was made over the summer and students were only informed of this by a campus email. The cable is no longer in the rooms but only in common areas such as lobbies.
Many things had to be improved on campus before the large freshman class arrived on campus, particularly the internet. The purpose of the change was to establish a more reliable connection for all students.
“The computers requiring access on campus has increased by a third in most buildings,” said Kyle Warner, Director of Information Technology on campus. If the enrollment rate continues to increase every year, this more than likely will not be the only change that in implemented. “The bandwidth caps have been eliminated from ACWLAN/ACRegistered and raised for ACGuest.”
“I never used the cable here when we had it, but I recognize that was a way many Alma students had their ‘stress less’ time,” said Lauryn Kranz (‘21). After the work is done for the day, people like to decompress by watching television in the comfort of their own room. This is not a possibility anymore.
“Without the cable in our dorm rooms, my roommate and I are missing all of our weekly shows,” said Squires. “I do not have the opportunity to watch my shows in the common areas because other people are trying to watch what they want.”
If multiple programs are playing at the same time, students would have to fight over who gets to watch their program.
Many students also use common areas for studying or doing homework. If that is the only place people can get cable, it eliminates a space for people to study.
“We have lost our cable but did not get anything in the trade,” said Caitlin DeZwaan (‘19).
One aspect of the improvements is to be better equipped for gaming. “By the end of 2018, game consoles will have improved Network Address Translation (NAT) services supporting more reliable connections for Internet gaming,” said Warner.
Main campus may have gotten some improvements but what about the small housing on campus? “I honestly feel [cheated]. The connection in small housing is worse than last year and needs to be fixed,” said DeZwaan.
Though there are not as many people in a specific house, they still need a reliable connection to do work and connect their devices.
The Greek Housing and Small Housing run on their own WiFi connection. The WiFi networks may not have as much traffic but they still need to be fast enough for the students who live in that specific house.
“We have also added ACRegistered which will help support consumer networks and gaming devices,” said Warner.
As Alma College updates their campus with better buildings, they will also be updating their wireless connection.
“Additional buildings are expected to see increased access point densities as part of future renovation projects,” said Warner.
Alma College is growing every year, this means that the WiFi will slow unless the college continues to update they system as we grow. Alma College is doing it’s best to listen to students and improve what they are asking.
