The beginning of the fall semester is finally upon us and many N.C. A&T students can not help but complain about the internet quality around campus. As Information Technology Services (ITS) continues working to resolve the connectivity issues more students are speaking out about their concerns with the Wi-Fi issues around campus.
Many students have complained to ITS about the current Wi-Fi issues that they are experiencing within the classrooms and throughout the residence halls. One of the main issues has been the weak internet connection throughout the day.
At the beginning of 2022 N.C. A&T had suffered from a cybersecurity breach resulting in an internet outage. The outage occurred March 7th-11th affecting Blackboard services and Wi-Fi connection university wide.
Unfortunately, the effects of the outage can still be felt by students such as Huggins with there being a noticeable difference in the connection.
According to sophomore nursing student Mya Turner, she finds herself reconnecting her devices several times throughout the day.
“When it comes to my laptop or iPad I have to constantly reconnect it to the Wi-Fi,” sophomore nursing student Mya Turner said. “Aggie guest doesn’t work so I have to use Aggie Pride which goes in and out on my devices.”
Blackboard has become one of the main sources of communication for viewing assignments between students and teachers. Yet, with connectivity issues taking place it has led to students having difficulties completing and turning in assignments.
“My computer doesn’t connect to the Wi-Fi which makes my assignments not able to load,” senior meteorology student Davion Huggins said. “My (Wi-Fi) login doesn’t work on my computer so I have to keep changing locations in order to complete my work.”
The speed and quality of the Wi-Fi have not only impacted students’ studies, but it has also caused problems with students’ ability to reconnect with their friends and family from home. Many frustrated claiming this experience is hindering their social life.
Due to the vast amount of complaints ITS have sent out several campus wide emails identifying the technical defect that is impacting the university’s technology infrastructure. The department has begun completing emergency repairs that may result in brief outages in the coming weeks.
According to ITS, “The university is experiencing communication issues within its network due to a failed core switch module. This issue is preventing most of the campus from accessing the Internet. This issue also prevented users from logging into applications such as Blackboard, Banner, Office365, and others. However, we are working with the university’s networking partners to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”
Although action has been taken in order to improve the quality of the Wi-Fi, students are struggling to see the changes on their end.
“Since the virus, it has been difficult,” said Marsalis Davis, a junior accounting student. “The Wi-Fi is still off and on most times. It also hasn’t been able to recognize my aggie account while logging in.”
Students like Huggins are frustrated and demanding a change who says the internet connection in Gibbs Hall has never worked since he has been at the university.
“Something has to be done,” Huggins said. “We have been voicing our opinions since [my] sophomore year.”
It is with great hope that ITS will restore the campus back to full internet service in the coming weeks.
