The College of Art and Design and Information Technology Services updated the Design Building and Atkinson Hall with a new Wi-Fi infrastructure over the summer, Jane Cassidy, Student Technology Fee Oversight Committee chairperson and Vice Provost for Human Resources and Facilities Management, said in an email.
The Design Building was originally No. 5 on the University’s priority list of buildings to be updated, but it was completed early to meet students’ needs.
The updates were paid for by the University, not STF.
The University has prioritized Tureaud Hall next, then the Business Educational Complex, Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex, Allen Hall, Williams Hall and Nicholson Hall. STF expects the updates to total $133,004.
STF projected $290,000 more to be spent on the 2014-2015 wireless expansion after $140,000 was spent in 2013-2014.
STF has budgeted $105,075 for the updates in Middleton Library, Bo Campbell Auditorium and Lockett Hall, which are now in progress.
The Student Union and Coates Hall were completed over the summer for a total cost of $203,449.
The Daily Reveille previously reported that the recent updates in the Union and Coates Hall added 70 new access points.
The University broadcasts three wireless networks on campus: eduroam, lsuguest and lsuwifihelp, according to the LSU GROK Knowledge Base website.
After the Wi-Fi updates are complete, however, there may still be problems with the wireless network.
“Even after conducting a very detailed site survey and deploying a wireless network, ongoing monitoring and fine-tuning must take place in order to ensure optimal performance,” according to GROK. “Changes such as moving the location of antennas or adding more access points might be required. In some cases, conducting a new site survey is also a good idea. Wireless data travels in the air and this medium can be very unpredictable.”
Patrick F. Taylor Hall was originally planned to be updated. However, at the STF meeting, it was unanimously voted to be cut from the list of updates because there are plans to renovate the hall in the future.
Mechanical engineering sophomore Andrew Agosto said the Wi-Fi currently on campus is terrible, and he hasn’t seen a difference since the expansion started.
“The only time you get a decent connection is when you’re in a class, but if the class is too big, sometimes you can’t even connect,” Agosto said.