King’s students finally have a timeline for Wi-Fi. Administration has announced December as the ready-date “at this point” for wireless Internet throughout King’s academic and residence buildings.
“We will be starting the installation in the NAB and the Link this month, then addressing the residences,” King’s facilities director Alex Doyle wrote in an email to the King’s community yesterday morning. “Remaining residences will come on stream as soon as possible.”
The announcement comes despite the board of governors being told in late September that installation was unlikely to be completed until the end of the academic year.
Not having Wi-Fi has been frustrating for some King’s students, especially while paying the $100 technology fee, instated by the board of governors in June, for something they don’t have.
“Sometimes my computer wouldn’t link up to the Internet cable. So I took the Wi-Fi coming from the library. My computer had to be in a specific place on my desk,” said Emma Sutro, a third-year student at King’s, recalling her time in residence.
Sutro, however, said the rewards outweigh the costs.
“We didn’t have Wi-Fi for a really long time so we had to use internet connect wires, so having Wi-Fi is actually pretty good,“ said Sutro. “It’s a privilege having Wi-Fi, so I guess we just have to suck it up.”
King’s had planned to complete the project during the summer, but it got delayed as the school waited for provincial approval of the technology fee.
“The project was delayed until funding was approved. The technology fee is being used to fund the project,” Doyle said.
But a semester paying for Wi-Fi installation while still waiting for access seems a bit much for some.
“I think we need a new Wi-Fi system, but it’s not fair to charge student’s for it before it’s even implemented,” said Day Students’ Society (DSS) financial vice-president Luke Van Horne.
The only Wi-Fi currently at King’s is the DAL-WPA2 network in academic buildings, often found to be patchy. A planned Wi-Fi lounge, Doyle wrote in his email, was abandoned when the North Pole Bay first floor room was purposed as a dorm room.
Facilities manager announces tentative completion date for WiFi installation
