MEREDITH ANDERSON | EDITOR IN CHIEF
IMT hosted a dialogue with students to address the slow and sometimes non-existent internet access in University Village, where student reportedly experienced dramatic internet problems this academic year.
According to chief technology officer Jeff Bridges, currently between the hours of 10 am until 2 am the internet is saturated with users. Assistant director of client computing Rob Davis said there have been several internet related issues taking place that have been lumped into one complaint—the problem with the internet. The goal of the evening was to break down the multiple issues facing IMT and provide context to the work that has been done and that is still in progress.
IMT plead with students to report issues so that work orders can be made to correct problems. In an effort to get students involved IMT posted a hotline number on the door of every apartment in the Village over Christmas break. On average this hotline rings once—maybe twice in a day according to IMT staff.
“If would have known about the issues in the fall that would have helped,” chief information officer Don Davis said.
According to IMT staff representatives there are many factors that have contributed to frustration with the functioning of the wifi including the rate at which technology itself is developing. Everything from the volume of personal laptops to smart phone has played a part in the problem according to Davis.
Factors—the truth and the speculation
The use of video and music streaming has increased is five times greater then last year according to Bridges. Many students have speculated that implementation of the peer to peer sharing blocking program has played a role in the internet slowing. Ironically, red lambda, the software used to enforce sharing rules, was projected to increase the bandwidth availability resulting in faster internet. (Systems that use peer to peer sharing gobble up 40 times more space on the bandwidth as regular programs.) The sudden jump of video streaming paired with the move to high definition technology on many websites, chronically impaired the internet’s ability to function. IMT is now asking faculty, staff and students to adapt their internet usage habits. According to recent IMT data 88 percent of internet bandwidth is used for what they classify as “entertainment” sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Hulu. When asked why students should be told to limit their use of such sites, Bridges said it is the same reason why cable is not an option in the dorms—it was decided students should be encouraged to engaged in community that isn’t limited to commercial breaks.
Peer to Peer Sharing Blocking
While websites deemed in violation of peer to peer sharing could have simply have been blocked from APU’s internet network, a different route was taken. By implementing the system of offenses and punishments, the hope is student will learn to think twice about their internet use instead of being prevented all together. Since the process was initiated on Jan. 14th, approximately 700 students have been first time offenders averaging 100 a week. Of those 20 percent go on to be second time offenders according to Bridges. IMT is in the process of expanding the new internet restrictions to faculty and staff as well. While some students have gotten kicked off the internet for using valid applications such as Skype, IMT assures students those issues will be resolved this week. The company hired by the university generates the list of what sites are off limits. Students who were surprised when accused of violating the policy are being encouraged to report such incidents to IMT so their record can be cleared if necessary. Also a list is currently being compiled of such unexpected banned sites and will be made available to the community.
Internet Improvements and Options in the Apartments
While banned in the freshman dorms, purchasing cable and alternative internet from an outside provider is an option in the apartments. Students can opt to pay for their own internet and cable from Charter, the only company who services the apartments, if the internet is through a router and not a wireless access point. Non IMT wireless interferes with APU internet and is therefore not allowed. While this alternative is not advertised, it is fine by IMT and allows students to use the internet without the peer to peer sharing software monitoring web browsing. For those sticking with APU internet, IMT staff assured Village residents the problem of not enough wifi access points will be resolved by the end of this week with the number increasing from four to six access points per court and by putting the additional two inside the buildings.
Upgrading the bandwidth for increased speed delayed
An internet upgrade was planned to take place over Christmas break however, negotiations between APU and Verizon took longer then anticipated to complete. At this point the contract has been signed and processed. Now Verizon must schedule the engineer visit to campus, to complete the procedure to increase the bandwidth—a task that will take all of ten minutes according to Bridges. However scheduling the visit could take up to three months on Verizon’s end.
“Every day this week they [Verizon] has told us they will have a date for us but it hasn’t happened yet.” Bridges said. “I have no idea when it is going to be and I don’t want to speculate.”
IMT even went as far to offer to pay extra to get the upgrade implemented faster. This contract itself will cost $5000 extra a month and make the internet four times faster; currently the bill comes to $10,000 a month. Because IMT has not been given any additional money in the budget, internal charges have been made to accommodate this new expense. According to Bridges, while some internal tasks will take longer but will not affect students.
“After the upgrade comes into effect APU will have the fastest internet of any college in the CCCU (Christian Coalition of Colleges and Universities). It will be twice as fast as the school trailing us,” Bridges said. “Four times whatBiola has.”
What now?
While the waiting game continues to be played with the anticipated upgrade—students, faculty and staff are being asked to limit watching movies and streaming music over the web. When it comes to current internet slowness, IMT recommends using an ethernet cord as it is literally 100 times faster then connecting to the network by using wifi. Supervisors are being instructed to tell staff and faculty not to use internet for things such as Pandora radio and Hulu during the work day. While the request to students is on a voluntarily basis, the effectiveness of this approach will be considered over the course of the next weeks to determine if an enforcement policy will be established. Something of that magnitude would go before the president’s cabinet for approval.
“Student’s have a social responsibility to be a partner with us [on this issue,]” Bridges said. “It is like like this analogy—we can all drive our cars but it is better for everyone if we walk.”
“I like that they were making it known what they are trying to do. It is obvious they know about the problem and are trying to do something,” junior graphic design major Steven Morrison said.
He came to the meeting to show support to IMT’s effort to communicate with students and because he assumed not very many students would attend.
“We don’t see a lot of talk from IMT—they are not very visible. People assume they are all nerds working away in their cave,” first year graduate student Aubree Stransbury said. She applauded IMT’s attempts to be more communicative with facebook and twitter.
“People want to get on facebook and yell about the internet but IMT needs a work order to fix it,” Stransbury said.
The fact that at last night’s event, IMT staff and student workers outnumbered student participants more then three to one is telling according to Bridges.
“Students just want to grip—that’s entertainment of its own. I mean look at the attendance here,” Bridges said.
The need for a partnership between students, faculty and staff was stressed by IMT staff to improve internet conditions.
Another meeting is planned for next Tuesday at 6:45 pm in Trinity Lounge.