Recently we have received numerous reports of unusually slow wireless Internet connections on campus.
I agree with you that the sluggish wireless transmission is exasperating, and we are very concerned about the problem. The slowdown is not due to an insufficient amount of equipment or low bandwidth, of which we have more than most universities in the region. (We are not trying to conserve money by not fixing the problem. If it were just a matter of having more or better equipment installed, we would not hesitate to make the investment in our students education and happiness, which we always are glad to do.)
Part of the problem is that some of the equipment contains a flaw, and we are presently working with the vendor to have that corrected. Also, the wireless arrays on campus were reconfigured a couple of weeks ago, which should have alleviated much of the slowdown by now.
In the meantime, please consider the following remedies:
The best solution, if it is available to you, is to use a cabled (Ethernet) connection, which is provided in the dorm rooms. That is almost always the most reliable and satisfactory way to get on the Web.
Some dormitories have wireless only in the lobby, not in the rooms. Those buildings will have wireless capability installed in the rooms this summer, but presently they do not provide adequate wireless connectivity from most of the rooms. The dorm lobbies should have good signal strength, however, and the in-room Ethernet ports should also work well.
If you logged in as "guest," that could be the cause of slow wireless connectivity. The guest account is purposely throttled down. You must use your LU account to get regular wireless bandwidth. If you do not know how to connect through your LU account, please follow the online instructions that appear when you attempt to log in. If the instructions do not come onto your screen, please contact our IT Department for help.
As well, if your personal laptop has slow wireless, please check with our IT Department. In many cases of extreme slowdowns, we have traced the problem to viruses and spyware on the machine; in some of the remaining situations, the machine's hardware was too old to keep pace with the newer network protocols and configurations. The latter might be the source of the glitch if your computer was built before 2009.
Please be assured that I am as concerned about this matter as the students, and I will not rest until it is redressed.
SLOW INTERNET!?!?! Try no internet... i have an Ethernet cable plugged in and my internet has been consistently going in and out constantly for the last 4 days!
