What the fuck is up with Albany’s Wi-Fi?
For a while, it seemed like many facilities on the Albany campus were closing for good. But recently, with the re-opening of facilities and construction, perhaps the universe might once again start smiling upon Albany students. But whatever gifts the universe has decided to give to Albany, a solid Wi-Fi connection isn’t one of them. Apparently, that’s too much to ask!
Students across the board have had Wi-Fi connection troubles. Massey student, Myka, said that “it’s very unpredictable and it often stops working right when you need it”. It has left her “very, very annoyed... I pay seven grand a year to be here, the least they could do is have decent Wi-Fi.” Myka said that most of the time she uses the guest Wi-Fi. It brings to question why there is such disparity between networks. Also, for the students in accommodation, Wi-Fi at Massey is their main source of internet.
Fany, another Massey student, expressed similar feelings and was “mad and annoyed” at the constant disruption. She says it is “the same for both [her] phone and computer” and that “when [she] goes and comes back, they have to reconnect”. She mentioned that even going to the bathroom can cause a disconnect and that the Wi-Fi connection wavers a lot when someone moves. Also, she said that “maintenance always happens from 7 to 9 when people are doing assignments”.
Once, I lost the signal in the middle of class. The worst part is that if you want to sign back it just doesn’t work. If it gets really bad, you have to sign in to the guest network. Where’s the dignity in that? I’m also not prepared to use paper and pen again. I still have a callous on my finger from years of writing with pens and pencils. Besides, we didn’t get this far, technologically, to use ballpoints again.
Yet, sometimes, the Wi-Fi can be okay for a while, it lulls you into a false sense of security before cutting out again. For a university that touted its distance learning programs and technology prowess, it sure needs to get its shit together. It seems like technology itself is giving up on campus.
But when these problems come up, what are students expected to do? A spokesperson from Massey said that “Massey University understands that there have been issues with the Wi-Fi on the Auckland campus. In March the ITS Service Delivery team experienced on average between 1-3 students per week experiencing Wi-Fi dropping off across the campus on personal devices, mostly laptops.” The team then would check for any settings issues on the device. Students were then advised to come back if connectivity issues continued. But after having these conversations with students, they never returned to the team with any issues. Hmm, wonder why? Maybe it’s like talking about mental health to your dad - you don’t talk about your issues with the source of the problem.
The University has provided some resources to try to address this issue. Massey’s spokesperson also said, “The [ITS] team also produced Wi-Fi troubleshooting steps for Win10 and Mac, which would help them collect the relevant information to investigate and diagnose these issues further.” The team then handed out five copies of these steps to students with Wi-Fi issues. Students were told to follow the instructions and contact the team if issues persisted. However, no students responded back. The first suggested advice to students who want personal assistance was to visit the Information Commons (IC) support person in the Library. If that doesn’t work, then make a call/log to the appropriate ITS team.
It seems like in this tale of failed connections there has been some communication breakdown on both sides. But, if so many personal laptops have had no setting issues, then where is the issue coming from?
Whether we like it or not, the Internet is now a part of society’s backbone. So, it’d be nice if its connection could at least stay strong. I hate to mention Covid-19 again but when it comes to Wi-Fi in these times, someone’s got to mention it. And believe me, I’m getting sick of it too. But you’d think that good Wi-Fi would be a priority. I mean, like....something’s got to be a priority for Massey. Right? Right??