Last year, Network Services made a number of changes to the wireless system on campus in an effort to reduce the issues students had been reporting in the residence halls. Since the start of the Spring 2018 semester, the number of wireless issues reported to the Campus Support Center had decreased, however, S.G.A. recently brought it to our attention that students were still reporting wireless issues to them. These reports were for both the residence and academic areas on campus.
Due to this, Network Services redoubled its efforts and made significant changes to the wireless in all residence halls on the weekend of April 14th. Network Services has also updated the wireless in both Ross Pendergraft Library and McEver and will continue working on other academic areas during the summer.
If you use the wireless in the residence halls, RPL, or McEver and are still experiencing issues, please put in a ticket with the Campus Support Center by one of the following methods:
- Web: https://support.atu.edu
- Phone: 479-968-0646
Here are some tips for utilizing the wireless at Arkansas Tech University:
- Report wireless issues to the Campus Support Center – If users don’t report an issue, it can make it difficult for Network Services to identify the scale of a problem or if one even exists. When you report a wireless issue to Campus Support, a ticket will be created for you and Network Services can investigate by looking at statistics for your devices including signal quality, interference levels, etc. to help identify where the problem might be.
- Consider purchasing 5ghz capable devices or adapters – 2.4ghz is an older wireless standard now and is prone to interference that can drastically lower a user’s wireless experience. While we are doing whatever possible to make 2.4ghz connectivity better, there is a limit to what can be done to improve it. 5ghz is a newer standard, supports higher data rates, and is less likely to encounter interference. Most newer devices are “dual-band” which means they are capable of utilizing 2.4ghz and/or 5ghz, however, we have seen some of the cheaper laptop models at retailers still support only 2.4ghz. If your laptop or computer only supports 2.4ghz, consider buying a 5ghz capable wireless USB adapter. We have tested some inexpensive but highly recommended models that have shown good results.
- Turn off cell phone hotspots and wireless printers – While we understand some students used a wireless hotspot to get their homework done while we had wireless issues, a hotspot improves your wireless situation but makes it worse for everyone around you. Wireless printers and hotspots, such as a cell phone or PC broadcasting wireless, are not allowed. If your printer has wireless functionality, check to make sure it is disabled. If your wireless connectivity is having an issue please contact the Campus Support Center. If you need to get work done immediately, consider utilizing a wired port in your room or a computer in the library.
- Disconnect and Reconnect – Sometimes devices “stick” to a wireless access point even when there are better ones to connect to, especially if it is a mobile device and you just came back to your room from somewhere. Disconnecting or disabling wireless, and then reconnecting, can force your device to re-evaluate available access points to connect to.
Check the status of the network – Students can check the network status of the individual residence halls, ResNet as a whole, and the traffic between the university networks and the Internet by going to the ResNet Network Status page at https://www.atu.edu/resnet/status.php