Monday, April 25, 2022

Over the last several months, EITS network technicians have installed more than 1400 new wireless access points throughout University Housing to improve wireless service in the residential halls. 

The work is part of a $5 million project spanning five years to replace and upgrade equipment in 18 residence halls on the Athens campus. This year, new wireless access points were installed in Mary Lyndon Hall, Lipscomb Hall, Mell Hall, Hill Hall, Church Hall, Boggs Hall, Creswell Hall, Russell Hall, Oglethorpe House, Brown Hall on the Health Sciences Campus, University Village K and L, and Rogers Road Housing M, N, P, Q, R and S.

David Stewart, IT Associate Director for EITS Networking, said the project was necessary to keep up with changing technology as well the increasing number of devices students bring with them to campus.

“Everybody’s devices are wireless now. They connect with their professors and each other via wireless connections, and we need to expand and improve it because we’re seeing more devices on campus,” Stewart said.

The increased number of access points improves the density of wireless coverage, meaning there are fewer devices connecting to each access point, improving performance for all who are connected, he said.

In the last five years, EITS has worked to increase the number of campus access points from 6,917 to more than 10,000 on the Athens campus, supporting on average 60,000 total clients every day.

The wireless work in Housing required EITS Networking staff to enter residents’ rooms to install new access points. EITS worked with University Housing staff to ensure the residents knew when technicians would be in their rooms, and what to expect. The wireless work in Housing was completed in March 2022, ahead of schedule.

“We worked with University Housing administration, their communication teams, their maintenance crews to provide us with escorts for all the rooms. It’s been a very good relationship,” he said. “And the students, especially the residents have been very cooperative and very understanding.”

EITS is also working to improve wifi connectivity and coverage in other buildings in the Athens, Buckhead and Griffin campuses. The $1.2 million project, funded by Student Technology Fees, includes wireless refreshes and redesigns in many academic and student life buildings. Work has been completed on access point replacements in the Science Learning Center, the Ramsey Center and several buildings on the Health Science campus.

Technicians are also working on more improvements to outdoor wireless spaces north of Meigs Hall, along Herty Drive, and the greenspace on the north side of Grady College. Work is expected to be completed by June 2022.

For more information on upcoming campus wireless projects, contact Chris Fleming at cfleming@uga.edu.