Thanks to a grant funded by the student-paid technologyfee, Information Technology (IT) will be strengtheningwireless Internet access oncampus this semester.

Last semester, MelissaThammavongsa, a freshmanmajoring in biomedicalsciences, was eating with friends at the Bull’s Den Cafe when they reminded her of the impending deadline to reserve a ticket to a USFfootball game.

Excited about attending the game,Thammavongsatook out her phone to visit the USF Athletics website for aticket, but found she wassitting in an area withoutwireless connection. She cut her meal short and rushed to her Beta dorm room to use theInternet.

“I can usually find awireless connection inAndros,” she said. “It’s handy, but not consistent.”

Thanks to a grant funded by the student-paid technologyfee, Information Technology (IT) will be strengtheningwireless Internet access oncampus this semester.

IT will install more access points, which strengthenInternet connectivity in areas including theAndrosand Argos dorms, chemistrybuilding, administrationbuilding, Library and Marshall Student Center. Additionally, outdoor access points will be installed in areas including the east side of Cooper Hall, the Student Services breezeway, the Varsity Tennis Courts and the College of Education courtyard.

The project cost$986,960.85, IT networkengineer Joe Rogers said, and should be completed within the next three months. The project’s aim is to provide “blanket wirelesscoverage” to areas on campus with limited access, according to the IT website.

Access point locations were chosen based on usagestatistics collected by IT and feedback received fromstudents.

“(IT) requests feedback when students register for the USF network and one of the mostcommon requests we get is to provide wider access,” he said. “We’reconstantly lookingat ourwireless management systemsto see where are the high-density areas, like thechemistryclassrooms on the first floor, the two bigstadiumclassrooms. We were lookingat those areas and said, ‘OK, howmany current users do we have in there?'”

Rogers said the numberof wireless users inclassrooms has increased nearly five times sinceclassrooms were first equipped with wireless access. USF currently supports11,000 wireless Internet users with over70,000 separate devicesregistered on campus,Rogers said, and eachsemester sees an increase in 1,000 to 2,000 users.

Now, students are requestingto see access in parkinggarages as well.

“We get a surprisingnumber of requests forparking garages,” he said. “So we have a pilotprogram going right nowfor the (Collins BoulevardParking Garage). We just putin a few access points there,and we’re sort of monitoringutilization.”

–Additional reporting byGilda-RaeGrell