By Grace Ramsey
No internet connection? Wi-Fi upgrade coming soon
The Wi-Fi issues at Las Positas College should be nearing an end, as the new wireless installation is nearly finished. The millennials on campus will be happy the college has internet that commiserates with the times.
Returning students should already notice the improvements in speed and availability as the upgrade, scheduled to be finished by the summer 2018 semester, is being completed. No more burning your data trying to download or stream because it’s too slow on LPCs wireless signal. When the update is finished, the campus should have Wi-Fi that has four times the coverage, according to the school’s IT department.
Naturally, this should fix all the wireless dead spots and drop out points that have been an issue for students.
“I think it affects me more now that I work here, simply because everything we have is run on Wi-Fi,” said Las Positas student Shuja Decoteau, who works at the Starbucks in the cafe, “When it cuts out, everything goes out and then reboots. It’s severely irritating. If I’m mid-transaction, the customer has to give me 30-35 seconds.”
Other areas that have had these types of connection issues include the 4000 building, the 500 building and the 1800 building.
“In the science building, it gets worse. And on the edges of campus, like in the portables I’ve noticed it gets worse,” said LPC student Bekah Gonzalez. “At the end of the hallway in 2400 building and in the 4000 building, it doesn’t work at all.”
Once the Wi-Fi initiative is 100% done, these problems should be fixed.
The wireless usage has grown considerably since 2011 when the wireless technology was updated. The wireless was still not fast enough to keep up with the ever-changing wireless devices and applications that students and faculty use on a day to day basis.
Because of the increased utilization of the Wi-Fi, the system reached its limits of use, said Guisselle Nunez Director of Public Relations at the District. A faster more reliable infrastructure was needed.
The Measure A bond was passed by voters in 2016 which provided the funding for technology projects for Las Positas and Chabot. The Chabot-Las Positas Community College District IT department talked with consultants, vendors, technology staff and contractors to design a new infrastructure. The price was nearly $900,000 to purchase the wireless controllers needed for each of the campuses.
The District installed 375 new wireless access points at LPC and replaced the existing 80. Chabot received 425 access points replacing more than three times the 118 the school previously had. Each point focuses mainly on inside-building wireless. The installations were done on weekends, nights and holidays, so student activities weren’t affected.
The Measure A bond’s budgets includes any updates and replacements that are needed over time as the technology ages and newer technology becomes available. Future plans to expand include outside-building wireless in the amphitheater, athletic fields and the library quad.