What’s with the WIFI?

At Vanguard University of Southern California, students and professors must have access to the Wi-Fi to complete the day’s tasks; however, the connection seems to be weak or lost when it comes time to teach in the classroom and attend class online.

Is there ever a “right time,” to be online or do students and professors just have to rely on luck to get perfect Wi-Fi connection?

During an interview, a senior vanguard student expressed challenges that she has faced when trying to use Vanguard’s Wi-Fi. The number of inconsistencies with the Wi-Fi working properly when it was needed most was unhelpful.

When asked how often the Wi-Fi does not work, she said, “probably 80% of the time that I am here theirs trouble with the Wi-Fi. It’s either disconnecting or it just doesn’t connect at all.”

Obviously, the Wi-Fi plays a significant role to students who need to access school materials to complete assignments. Finding places that are reliable are hard to come by.

When asked about spots on campus that do not have great Wi-Fi she said, “there are random spots where Wi-Fi doesn’t reach, so that’s not practical at all.”

She also mentioned the VC and the courtyard are places that have weak Wi-Fi. “Since I’m a senior I am where in VC, and sometimes in VC it just doesn’t work at all,” she said, “so that’s obviously not practical.”

As for places that Wi-Fi does work, she said that the library has Wi-Fi.  Having access to the Wi-Fi is so important this senior student she will drive all the way to the library from VC just to make sure the Wi-Fi works.

The practicality that Vanguard’s Wi-Fi does not have sometimes gets to its students, and for some like the senior student, going to Starbucks has reliable Wi-Fi. However, it may not be as practical because student’s have to put in the time it takes to go to Starbucks then back to campus in time for classes.

As for her satisfaction level with Vanguard’s Wi-Fi system on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the highest, she said two. One of the reasons that she gave Vanguard’s Wi-Fi ratings so low was because of a final paper was quite important. Trying to complete this assignment is what pushed her over because she needed the Wi-Fi to complete the assignment and when it was not working when she needed it, it was like the last straw.

She said, “we had our final paper due the week of, and it was not working. It wasn’t at all. And students needing to research, needing to be in the library and using all that data basis we weren’t able to use it because of the Wi-Fi wasn’t working. It’s terrible.”

If trying to complete assignments in class for a class needed for graduation was not stressful enough, difficulties Wi-Fi can only add to the stress and frustration. As for future students who need to access the universities Wi-Fi services in the future, she said she wouldn’t want people to run into the bad services of Wi-Fi.  For students who may have limited time or try to get assignments submitted just before the due date having good Wi-Fi is key.

During her class she mentioned, “there’s last minute stuff and you can’t do anything because the Wi-Fi wasn’t working. And we needed that time, every moment was precious for us. And we were struggling so much because the Wi-Fi wasn’t working.”

It is not just one student who struggles with the universities Wi-Fi but there are others as well. Is there a solution for these struggling students or is this out of our control?

Vanguard’s information technology, more commonly known as the IT department, was ready to answer questions about Vanguard’s Wi-Fi prior to sending an e-mail about some questions. Inside the IT Department building, located near the library, at the help desk an IT Technician said that a common problem that students have with the Wi-Fi system is with VU-Guest Wi-Fi.

He explained that if someone had used VU-Guest Wi-Fi once before, then their device would automatically want to connect to it because it is not as protected as the VU Wi-Fi system. He went on to explain that this problem is easily fixed once an individual brings their computer so that VU-Guest Wi-Fi system can be delated, which would fix the issue. He also mentioned that another factor of bad Wi-Fi could be because of the individual’s technological device or software that they are using.

During the interview, the IT Technician had the fellow Jr. Networker Administrator look up how many servers were in the Student Center. After a short two minutes, he told us that there were about ten to twelve servers currently in the Student Center.

The day that I had asked these questions, which was on November 29, 2021, the Jr. Networker Administrator told me that there were currently two that were down in the Student Center. The IT Technician then mentioned that this problem wasn’t an easy thing to fix.

The Jr. Networker Administrator, then said, “I’m not going to go up a ladder and fix it, every time there is an out.” The IT Technician went on to say that even going up a ladder does not always fix it. That sometimes these sorts of issues require professional help. And based upon the pricing and availability of the professional help, it can be some time before the issue is fixed.

He also mentioned that servers are not annually fixed due to some of these reasons and emphasized that a lot goes into fixing the Wi-Fi. That the solutions are not always as simple, and that money is factor when it comes to updating the servers or technology.

So does Vanguard really have a bad Wi-Fi system or is it just our own devices that are causing the issue. According to the IT Department, Vanguard has a pretty good Wi-Fi system, they explained that they have a big enough service for the campus that should suffice everyone.

The IT Technician also said that during his time working at Vanguard University, which has been for two years now, and has not heard very many complaints about Vanguard’s Wi-Fi system. Apparently, the IT Department does not know there is an issue because not many people have mentioned that there was an issue.

He said that most students say that there is trouble with the Wi-Fi in the dorms, or mention that they have had an issue with the Wi-Fi a week later after the issue has passed. Just like Vanguard’s Wi-Fi seems to be inconsistent so does the information that the IT Department is getting from students.

A possible solution that the IT Technician mentioned was that, if students were able to chart down when they had an issue and where, then the IT Department would be able to pinpoint what needs to be done in order to get students better access.

This type of information would help the IT Department because they would have enough information so that they can address the issue, and in turn it could help the students to feel heard; and their information is actually helping a university that emphasizes to their students that, “Your story matters.”