After semesters of University of Miami students reporting slow Wi-Fi connections across campus, the University continues to make changes in an attempt to improve the connections.
Now, as students return this fall, the question remains whether those changes have made a difference.
New fixes, same Wi-Fi problems
University of Miami Information Technology has been focusing on updating the network’s infrastructure, security and troubleshooting.
UMIT introduced Wi-Fi Tune-Up Stations to help students who are having trouble staying connected to the network. Students can bring their wireless devices to the stations at the Student Technology Help Desk in the Ungar Building or at Richter Library, where they can have their device updated for optimal performance and report connectivity problems.
UMIT has also made changes to the security behind UM’s wireless and wired networks. Students may receive a notification asking them to ‘trust” an updated security certificate when connecting to the network.
Despite those changes happening behind the scenes, students are still experiencing challenges with the Wi-Fi.
Leila Milos, a sophomore who works at Richter Library’s front desk, says that although she has noticed fewer students coming to the desk this semester with Wi-Fi complaints, she is still experiencing issues in her residential dorm.
“I live in Eaton,” said Milos. “[The Wi-Fi] can sometimes be a bit spotty.”
Milos and her co-workers emphasized that reliable Wi-Fi is crucial in the library because much of a student’s academic work is now done online.
“The library is where everyone comes to do their work,” said Milos’ co-worker who wishes to remain unnamed. “Most classwork, or like homework, is online. Everything is online, to be honest. I think it is crazy how much we pay in tuition, that there are still so many issues with connection.”
Josephina LaBore, a junior who works at the front desk of Shalala Student Center, said students’ Wi-Fi experiences can also depend on the device they are trying to connect to.
“It wouldn’t let me connect my laptop, because it wasn’t Apple,” LaBore said. “No matter what I did, it would not connect for my whole first semester here.”
She went on to say how her peers believed that MacBooks were the easiest to connect, while other brands like Lenovo or Dell faced more issues.
Three bars but still no connection
For students, the real measure of the University’s Wi-Fi is not necessarily the number that appears on the speed test. It is whether they can sit down on campus and study without switching to cellular or submit an assignment without worrying if the connection will drop.
Last year, The Miami Hurricane reported widespread Wi-Fi complaints. Students described connections that would slow down or stop working altogether. Some said they had to use cellular data to study in the library, or that network issues interfered with class presentations.
“IT representatives meet bi-weekly with Student Government members on the topic of technology at the U and discuss any areas of concern related to Wi-Fi on campus,” the University said in a statement to The Miami Hurricane last February.
The University also said it had invested in upgrading access points across campus and conducting onsite assessments in areas where students reported connectivity problems.
At the time, The Miami Hurricane tested Wi-Fi speeds at several locations across campus using Fast.com, which is owned by Netflix. The test measures the download and upload speeds of the Wi-Fi your device uses, in megabits per second (Mbps).
According to Astound, 25 to 100 Mbps is a good middle range, while 100 to 500+ Mbps is high and supports higher quality, like 4K videos.
Whitten recorded a download speed of 140 Mbps, while Cox recorded 150 Mbps. Shalala had a faster connection at 320 Mbps. In the residential colleges, Pearson recorded 290 Mbps and Coral recorded 270 Mbps.
Those numbers provided a snapshot of the network, but they did not necessarily match what students were experiencing. Despite relatively strong speeds, students continued to report unreliable connections.
This semester’s connection test reveals varied Mbps
To see how the network compares now, The Miami Hurricane conducted new Wi-Fi speed tests.
At Whitten University Center, the test recorded a download speed of 380 Mbps; at Cox Science Center, 285 Mbps; and at Shalala Student Center,130 Mbps.
At Richter Library, the speed test recorded 107 Mbps, the slowest result among the locations tested. In residential areas, Coral Residential Village recorded around 290 Mbps, while Lakeside Village recorded 260 Mbps.
The results show that Wi-Fi speeds across campus can vary significantly depending on location. Compared with testing conducted last year, Whitten and Cox showed substantially faster speeds, while other locations produced slower results.
The testing also cannot provide a complete picture of the student experience. Wi-Fi speeds can change throughout the day depending on how many people are connected to the network and where a device is specifically located.
The locations tested also changed slightly from last year’s testing. Mahoney-Pearson is no longer a residential building, so Lakeside Village was tested instead.
Still, even a brief Wi-Fi problem can have consequences for students trying to get to class, join a meeting or meet an assignment deadline.
LaBore said reliable Wi-Fi is important because students depend on it for nearly everything they do on campus.
“I often walk into work, and the Wi-Fi won’t connect so I am not able to clock-in right away,” LaBore said. “That causes me to be marked as late, even though I am actually here”
She also said connection problems can affect students when submitting assignments.
“I’ve had assignments that I thought were submitted and then I later realized they didn’t submit,” LaBore said. “So, then they were marked as late or incomplete.”
For college students, a strong Wi-Fi connection has become as essential to campus life as a CaneCard.
With classes, assignments and communication increasingly dependent on the internet, students do not just need Wi-Fi that sometimes works; they need to know it will work when it matters.