Dorm Wi-Fi upgrade on hold due to K-12 transition

Students staying at the university dorms are once again calling for the improvement of the Wi-Fi services. However, budget constraints due to the K-12 transition cannot make this possible yet.

According to Percival Gerard Genove, Management Information Systems director, “the university is thinking of upgrading the system to increase Internet speed,” but there is a “budget constraint because of less enrollees” this year.

Wi-Fi services were first offered to dormers in 2012. Genove said they have been receiving the same complaints ever since.

Kurt Torregosa, a junior information technology student residing at Doltz Hall, has struggled with the dorm’s Wi-Fi connection since his freshman year.

“Every year, problems about sudden disconnection, agonizingly slow speed, and even the absence of the dorm Wi-Fi overnight are struggles that dormers face,” Torregosa said.

Torregosa added that dormers like him wish for the problem to be finally solved as it is important for them “to communicate easily with [their] families and friends [in their] hometowns…and for assignments, researches, and projects.”

According to Genove, “the increasing number of users and subscribers” accounts for the slowness of the Internet speed.

A dormer from Vernon Hall, on the other hand, is complaining about the inconsistent speed of the dorm Wi-Fi connection because of gamers.

“[The Wi-Fi is] almost inaccessible every afternoon until midnight…it speeds up after midnight to early morning. I think it’s because of some dormers who play online games; they are causing Internet traffic,” he said.

He added that this “annoys some dormers who want to use the Internet connection for research or studying.”

Unsatisfied dormers have the option of unsubscribing from the dorm Wi-Fi services, according to Genove.

“It’s an optional service unlike the Wi-Fi in the university which comes as a bundle, a part of the tuition… If you are unhappy with the service, you can unsubscribe next semester or even in the middle of the semester,” Genove said.

However, according to a Carson Hall dormer, she would still opt to subscribe to the dorm Wi-Fi, although she cannot access some sites, because using the Internet in places outside the university is “expensive.”

“They don’t really ban, but there are websites that we can’t access sometimes…I don’t see why they need to block Spotify or Instagram,” she added.