The Wireless Internet Examined
Over the course of the summer, the entire wireless network at Colgate was restructured and improved. The number of Wireless Access Points was increased from 400 to over 900, making the wireless network much more widely available across campus. In addition, the total available bandwidth was increased from 55 megabits/second (mbps) to 300 mbps, increasing the speed nearly six-fold. Individual computers are limited to speeds of four mbps
Students have also noticed that registering computers on the Colgate wireless requires the installation of the Bradford agent software.
“This is to ensure a secure system,” Chief Information Officer of Information Technology Services (ITS) David Gregory said. Gregory mentioned that the Bradford agent made sure that viruses were rare and that students had the best possible experience with the network.
Colgate goes to great lengths to make sure there is a strong Internet system in place.
“The rural location of our campus makes our network six to seven times as expensive as our peer schools,” Gregory said.
This will change in 2012, however, when there will be a fiber cable on route 20, of which Colgate will likely be a tenant.
Maroon-News has also learned that between November 2 and 3, the bandwidth for the campus was increased to 500 mbps. This should remedy the slow connection speeds many students have been complaining about.
“This is great news, I had been noticing the slow speeds recently,” first-year Matt Bambach said.
On the horizon for ITS is a much more widespread integration of technology into the classroom.
“President Herbst is interested in making technology more widely adopted in the curriculum, and ITS is committed to supporting this,” Gregory said.
The Collaboration for Enhanced Learning (CEL), a collaboration between the libraries and ITS, helps professors in planning this technological integration. Students have been asked to make podcasts and posters or write Wiki entries instead of term papers.
“I enjoyed writing Wiki entries for my Spanish class. It lets me be creative and categorize my thoughts in a way a paper does not,” first-year Samuel Brenman said.
ITS is committed to improving students’ experience with technology both inside and outside the classroom. For support, students can go to the ITS helpdesks on the third and fifth floors of Case Library, or contact their Residential Computer Consultants (RCCs).
