Students living on campus experience the ups and downs of the Internet service provided in the residential halls.
The Residential Ethernet Network Connection, or ResNet, provides an Internet connection for most residential halls on campus.
Charles McMahan, Telecom-munications director at the Office of Computing Services, said the ResNet connection speed runs between 10 to 100 megabytes, which is about 20 times faster than dial-up service.
Students living on campus enjoy the fast connection.
“I like the speeds you can get while sending files through the LSU ResNet network,” said Kevin Lanigan, a mechanical engineer sophomore and resident of the West Campus Apartments.
On-campus residents also appreciate ResNet’s convenient accessibility.
“I like the fact that we have easy access to ResNet,” said Chris Frady, a mass communication sophomore living in the East Campus Apartments. “It’s not complicated to get.”
Each room in the residential halls is supplied with an Ethernet outlet, to access the Internet, students fill out an online form.
However, problems with the ResNet service have prompted student concerns.
According to Lanigan, the system’s firewall creates a problem with Internet communication.
“The firewall does pose problems when trying to send people files or pictures,” Lanigan said.
McMahan said the firewall, which closes access ports on the user’s computer, is necessary to block viruses from entering the machine and spreading through the system.
OCS also limits virus attacks by installing a patch on every computer on the ResNet system and by posting a version of Norton Anti-Virus on PAWS for user download.
Students also become frustrated with ResNet’s reliability.
According to Frady, the Internet service goes down for lengthy periods of time.
McMahan claims that the Internet disruptions mostly are contributed to the user.
“One of the most common complaints we get is their Internet connection isn’t working,” McMahan said. “A lot of the time it’s because the user’s firewall is set up to block all communications.”
McMahan said a lot of students do not notify the OCS when ResNet does not work, and the problem continues to exist.
“If ResNet isn’t working, call the help desk and turn in a trouble ticket so we’ll know about it,” said McMahan.