Why-reless routers

This past fall resident students were asked to take a survey regarding adding wireless access to residence halls.

While many students may be crying about the fact that we do not have wireless access in residence halls, I think it’s much better for the rest of us.

Now, I am not an expert when it comes to technology like wireless routers, but I am nowhere near a novice. I know that having wireless in the dorms would make for headaches all around.

Just imagine what access would be like on the first day of class in a freshman hall. Students would be notified that the dorms have wireless access, so they would think, “Hey, I am not going to spend extra money on a cable when I can just get wireless!”

The problem is that most wireless routers cannot handle too much traffic; over 20 users on a single router would make things pretty slow.

In a normal work environment, or in a classroom, wireless access usually is not slow because chances are there are only around 10 or so users connected, with most users simply checking email, writing a paper, doing research, etc.

Compare this to a dorm where many people stream movies, spend hours on YouTube and download music.

One of the questions in the survey asked students whether or not they would be willing to pay a $45 fee for wireless access.

Wireless access would be very costly to add to most dorms because numerous routers would need to be installed thanks to the cinderblock walls found in most dorms.

While I would like wireless, it is really not that necessary. What reasons are there for wireless access?

So you can sit in the hall and watch YouTube with your friends. You can sit on your bed without having that pesky Ethernet wire tangled around your room.

Our Information Technology department does an excellent job, especially when it comes to customer satisfaction among students.

They work hard to give us a free, 24/7 help desk, and a very reliable network.

Adding wireless in our dorms would be more of a headache than it is worth. I know that wireless will eventually happen, but now is not the time.