By Gabriela Flores
As more students returned to campus this fall, some have encountered issues with Brooklyn College’s WiFi, experiencing sudden internet crashes, an unstable internet connection, and other technical problems.
“It’s always been an issue, especially depending on where you are,” said third-year student Travis Matos, who noted that BC’s internet problems existed well before COVID-19. “It was so bad that I had to end up paying for my own personal hotspot, instead of using BC WiFi.”
Before the pandemic, BC administrators focused on extending WiFi coverage to areas where students and faculty congregated the most, according to the college’s Media Relations Manager Richard Pietras. $150,000 in funding was previously approved for WiFi expansion “in high-density areas on campus,” per the college’s Student Technology Fee Spending Plan for the fiscal year 2021. BC is planning to spend more on WiFi this year “because of the increased need,” Pietras reported to The Vanguard, with funding coming outside of technology fee funds. BC is currently expanding WiFi to more secluded areas on campus where students study and will shift its focus towards the library come spring.
“When you get higher up, I feel like the connection gets a little worse,” BC student Mayasa Joseph said when describing the library’s internet. Joseph, however, has not encountered any significant hurdles yet. “When you go a little lower, it gets better.”
She recalled one occasion when her friend had difficulty using the internet since they did not know which of the available networks they could connect to. “And I guess that’s confusing for some people that can’t get in but other than that there are no issues,” said Joseph.
For Janae Franklin, however, WiFi connectivity issues are common in the library and elsewhere at BC. “Before the pandemic, the WiFi would disconnect on its own automatically,” Franklin said while experiencing a sudden internet crash and phone service drop that prevented her from connecting her laptop to her hotspot.
To Matos, the college should improve and expand internet coverage not only for students but “especially within the classrooms” for professors who need to conduct classes in person.
“I noticed that it drops entirely, and pages don’t load. I noticed it’s a problem even with professors, to where they even have to stall class because their computer is not connecting to the internet,” Matos said.
As the college continues expanding WiFi on-campus, and with purchasing access points being “only one part of the process,” according to Pietras, those encountering connectivity troubles can fill out a WiFi Online Problem Report Form.