Wireless internet problems among campus residential areas leads to RA interference

Residence Services will soon be tracking wireless beacons in residential areas and asking students to remove them.

Wireless Internet provided to students in residential areas (separate from main campus) has recently encountered interference and slower processing because of wireless devices used by students living there. The goal of Residence Services is to remove the wireless beacons that students are using to decrease the amount of interference in the Wright State Internet signal, according to Director of Residence Services Dan Bertsos.

“Everybody on campus is paying a certain amount for internet,” Bertsos said. “The goal is to find a way to let students have better access in their room.”

Residence Services will be working with Computing and Telecommunication Services (CATS) and supplying Resident Assistants with Fluke Meters, which are devices that can detect the location and strength of broadcasting wireless signals. Using these meters, they will be able to detect the precise location of the interfering signal. The RA would then sit down with the student, and ask them to remove the device, according to Bertsos.

Bertsos also said that there are many items causing interference that will not be removed, such as wireless printers and game controllers. The recent increase in wireless devices that cause interference with Wright State’s network may lead Residence Services and CATS into looking at a more permanent solution.

“Eventually, if we can find an affordable device to put in to as many rooms as possible, so you can get a nice consistent coverage, it’s going to reduce the need for people to have these very powerful access points,” Bertsos said.

Computing and Telecommunications Services Senior Network Engineer John Pearson said the beacon removal effort was in place to assure that students are getting full access to the wireless Internet that Wright State invested in.

“We put a lot of money into this system,” said Pearson. “We want it to work for everyone.”