Editorial: We discuss campus Wi-Fi

There’s no doubt about it: Our campus has a major Wi-Fi problem.

But thanks to University Technology, the Wi-Fi troubles may be coming to an end. [U]Tech upgraded the CaseWireless system on Nov. 1. It’s still too early to tell if the changes were effective, but hopefully the upgrade will give members of the Case Western Reserve University community a reliable way to connect to the Internet on all parts of campus.

We are very happy to see that [U]Tech is addressing this problem. Substandard Wi-Fi has been a problem on our campus for too long. While we don’t know how complicated the Wi-Fi issues may be, [U]Tech has taken a great first step toward solving them.

Many students, staff and faculty have had trouble using both the CaseWireless and CaseGuest networks. Both networks have a tendency to randomly disconnect, sometimes at the worst possible times. Few things are more frustrating than the Wi-Fi connection breaking while you’re writing a research paper or using a Google Doc to work on a group project.

Some buildings have areas that almost never have decent Wi-Fi. There are a few spots in Crawford Hall, the White Metallurgical Building, A.W. Smith Building and the basement of Thwing Center where the Internet connection rarely seems to be working correctly. At times, students even have trouble getting a signal inside of Kelvin Smith Library, which should be the one place where continuous Internet access is guaranteed.

When traveling between buildings, the Wi-Fi is even worse. Walking from the Mather Quad to the Kent Hale Smith Quadrangle, it’s not unusual to completely lose connection. Adelbert Road and the Elephant Stairs are a few other spots where you can expect the Wi-Fi to cut out.

Having easy access to high-speed Wi-Fi is definitely a luxury, and every member of the CWRU community is lucky to have it. We know that complaining about bad Wi-Fi can seem a little ridiculous. And sometimes, the low-quality Wi-Fi really is just a minor inconvenience.

But other times, it can seriously disrupt things like studying and course registration. So many of us rely on our computers for everything academic. A university as technology-focused as ours should have Wi-Fi that works consistently no matter where you are on campus.

Thanks to [U]Tech, better Wi-Fi is finally on its way. Let’s see how it holds up.