Since the start of the fall semester, California Lutheran University students have expressed frustration over campus Wi-Fi disruptions on Fizz, an anonymous campus-specific social media platform.
A search with the keyword “Wi-Fi” yielded dozens of posts since Aug. 25 complaining of problems with internet connection on campus. Within the last week alone, posts describing Wi-Fi problems have garnered over 2,300 FizzUps, or “likes” from other users.
“WHY TF AM I PAYING A TECHNOLOGY FEE WHEN THE WIFI DOESN’T EVEN WORK?!?” an anonymous user said.
Jess Rodil, coordinator of the Writing Center in Pearson Library, said the Wi-Fi interruptions have disrupted the center’s daily operations, including its appointment system.
“The website we access is how we see who has appointments with us. If the Wi-Fi is down, [students] can’t make appointments with us. We can’t see them,” Rodil said.
Rodil said the Wi-Fi has affected her student employees and their ability to do their jobs because of the center’s reliance on technology.
“We access the Google Drive, we use Slack, we use all these things. My student employees aren’t able to complete their tasks if Wi-Fi is down. Oftentimes they end up just sitting around, waiting for it to go back up,” Rodil said.
Aaron Vorhis, senior director of IT infrastructure, said network interruptions happen because of a rotating MAC address that is in iPhone, iPad, MacOS and Android devices.
“If [interruptions are] happening more frequently, meaning like every day or every couple days or sometimes multiple times a day, it’s because the device has what’s called a rotating or random MAC address on it,” Vorhis said.
Vorhis said as someone moves their device across different wireless access points, the device will connect to a new network.
“As your device connects to a wireless access point, the device thinks that it’s connecting to a new network. Then it rotates that address, and then the authentication system goes, ‘I don’t know who you are,’ and then re-prompts you to log back in,” Vorhis said.
Sophomore Lilly Frawley said she has been interrupted by the Wi-Fi while working her online tutoring job.
“The internet just went out … so I was late to my job, it was really annoying,” Frawley said. “My phone is not connecting to the Wi-Fi. It’s been a really rough [over the] last week and a half.”
Adam Medina, a junior, said he has also experienced Wi-Fi issues, most frequently in the residential halls.
“I live in Grace [Hall]. Sometimes the Wi-Fi just decides to not work,” Medina said. “I have to change to data on my phone, and sometimes even have to connect my laptop to my personal hotspot.”
Vorhis said students living on campus who bring external wireless devices like routers and printers “impact and interfere” with the existing wireless infrastructure. He said the devices cause further Wi-Fi interruptions for not only the dorm the device is installed but also the surrounding dorms.
Medina said the repeated network problems have left him feeling like the university doesn’t care about student concerns regarding the Wi-Fi.
“It makes me feel like the school doesn’t care. It’s a pretty small school. It shouldn’t be this hard to give us good Wi-Fi, especially with how much we’re paying,” Medina said. “It just feels like we’re just being left in the dust.”
Frawley said she has felt “annoyed” and “frustrated” about the longevity of the Wi-Fi issues, given the costs associated with tuition.
“We’re paying so much money to be at this school, it shouldn’t [have] taken this long to fix [the Wi-Fi],” Frawley said. “Clearly, there’s a problem, because it’s not just a me issue. It’s just really frustrating because I’m expected to get my work done and have stuff done on time. How am I supposed to do that if I don’t have internet access?”
Cal Lutheran students are charged a yearly technology fee of $300. The mandatory fee is classified as a direct cost, one that charges directly to students’ accounts, according to Cal Lutheran’s website.
Director of Student Accounts Cathlyn Foss said in an email interview that the fee supports on-campus Wi-Fi infrastructure, technology infrastructure and services in classrooms and other academic areas.
Vorhis said Information Technology Services has a step-by-step article on how to turn off rotating MAC addresses on iPhone, Android, Mac and Windows.
“We have a knowledge-based article on it in the residential halls, as well as in some of the academic buildings. We have posters with QR codes,” Vorhis said. “It seems like there’s quite a few people that have figured it out how to turn it off, but there’s still a number of students and faculty and staff that have not turned off the rotating or random MAC address on their devices.”
Rodil said even though the interruptions can be “frustrating,” she doesn’t feel too bothered because she understands the constraints of ITS.
“I know [ITS works] very hard and they are oftentimes spread very thin, trying to fix all the fires that end up popping up … so I’m not too bothered,” Rodil said. “In the scheme of things of life, like the Wi-Fi goes out for, like an hour or two, it’s not like the end of the world.”
