There are many things that can obstruct the reliability to WiFi connections in a large community such as Oregon State University. Such examples include concrete buildings and abundant number of trees.

If there is not a direct line of sight between the outdoor router and the device in use, there can be a significance difference in connection power depending on the device in use. Most of the time, in Oregon State University, the most used item in question outdoors is the wireless cellphone. If there is a building in the way between the cellphone and outdoor router a decrease in internet speed is expected. The severity of slowness depends fully on what the building is made of and how large it is. For example, the connection would be better if the building was smaller and made of wood than if it were large and made of concrete. Most of the buildings at Oregon State University are both large and made of some form of stone, mostly concrete. This makes the obstruction of internet speed very high in most locations around campus, making it difficult to use your cellular device to send messages or check your email.

There is also a high population of trees on campus, each tree providing a form of obstruction towards wireless internet as well. Though the slowness trees cause is nowhere near the same as large buildings, it still provides a noticeable amount. Despite this, taking the trees down is not cause to solve the major issue that plagues campus. Rather than going to those measures, one might seek out to place more routers around campus to provide a more clear view of highly populated walkways. These walkways including engineering way and the major pathway before the LINC building. These locations see much traffic on a daily basis and are both surrounded by either large concrete buildings and trees. To have outdoor routers in direct line of sight in these areas would greatly improve the use of wireless internet on cellular devices making it more reliable to check ones email.

It is important to have reliable internet access on campus for both staff and student because this is how everyone is interconnected with one another. If a student can’t respond to a professors email in between their classes or a professor can’t make clear a powerpoint between tasks they must complete in a short timeframe whilst on the go, then the working in the Oregon State University environment is made far more difficult then it has to be.

There are many points around campus, such as outside the LINC building or on engineers way, that the internet is nearly impossible to rely on to get a simple task done. The major conduit for this effect being the great obstruction in those areas. Despite this obvious handicap people have in those areas, both students and staff go about their daily tasks without anything more than a simple murmur of disagreement. These murmurs won’t get the job done for fixing the problem, but it is the only thing most people think they can do to voice their opinions. This couldn’t be anymore incorrect for there are many ways one can make their voice heard on campus to solve an issue they might be having involving a problem with the WiFi. The only way a change can be made is by having many voices be heard in a single effort against the poorness of it.

Some means to come about this change would be the creation of online polls or standing out on campus and directly talking to the students and staff about the WiFi connections in the various areas described above. Being outside the LINC building or on engineering way, while subtle murmurs are being made, is the perfect time to have those murmurs become voices for change. If everyone who cares to improve the WiFi were to speak up all at the same time then surly the problem would be met and answered accordingly. The major reason it has not been addressed yet is both because of the lack of voice in regards to it and the lack of funds to resolve the problem. Both of which can be solved through a joint effort for change.

OSU has a fluctuating global WiFi that is neither reliable nor capable of providing desired coverage for the hustle and bustle of campus. There are very few outdoor access points and the ones that do exist are spaced far apart from one another and point towards major gathering areas such as the MU. With the focus on these populated areas, there is not enough attention given to the major walkways where more students need reliable WiFi. When they have ten minutes to get from one class to another, but they have to send an email to a professor, they usually have to wait a great deal of time before their internet browser even launches. To solve this, more WiFi access points would need to be installed outdoors. The downside to the installation is the required wiring and waterproofing which evens out to $2,500 each. According to the Director of IT for the College of Engineering at Oregon State University, in order to create a better outdoor coverage two things must happen: Special outdoor rated access points must be purchased and a hard-line data connection must be brought to the exterior of a building and be made waterproofed. The waterproofing and getting an ethernet cable outside of the building are by far the most expensive portions of the task because the actually installation of an indoor access point isn’t anywhere near as expensive. When installing outdoor, not only do funds need to be directed towards the equipment, but to ensure the job is done effectively and lasting, a professional electrician must be hired to install them. This increases the price of the entire endeavor exponentially. It is brought up so much so that it makes it unlikely that we will see any major change done to the WiFi connection on campus unless it is directly mentioned and brought up. Only through bringing to light these issues about global WiFi over the Oregon State University, we can seek to find a better solution to the main money problem involving the acquiring of more outdoor access points such as fundraisers or petitions signed to get some gears turning.