ACU’s Wi-Fi network may seem inescapable to most students on campus, but University Park residents don’t share that sentiment.
“Internet is available, but you have to use an Ethernet cable,” said Nicole Thoreson, freshman graphic design major from Shoreline, Wash. “Itʼs rather frustrating that I am confined to my room and canʼt access the internet anywhere other than my room.”
Jordan Hatcher, resident director of UP, said she receives grievances about wireless Internet accessibility from tenants regularly.
“The biggest complaint we get is they donʼt have it in their room,” Hatcher said. “We just explain its in the clubhouse, and they can come down here and deal with it.”
However, students are able to connect to the Internet using the Ethernet port located in each bedroom, which limits the users’ mobility to the length of the cable. The Ethernet option does make some devices useless for surfing the web, said Jared Perkins, senior sociology major from Saginaw.
“Itʼs very irritating that UP doesnʼt have Wi-Fi as it tethers students to an Ethernet cable. It prevents mobility of Internet access around the apartment, meaning you canʼt work on homework while sitting on the couch,” said Perkins. “iPads and iPod Touches canʼt use internet either since they donʼt have Ethernet access which is inconvenient for some people.”
Hatcher said, “I really donʼt think itʼs that big of a deal; they do have Internet access in their rooms, itʼs just not Wi-Fi, and they can come down into the clubhouse and use it.”
Structurally, UP wasn’t designed with the goal of optimizing Wi-Fi capabilities, so an upgrade would be necessary. Hatcher said there are no immediate plans for Wi-Fi to be installed in the complex, but it might be a possibility down the road.
