By: MANYI ENO
Staff Writer
As students returned to Piedmont this semester, they found problems with the Internet on campus.
This is not the first time students have had a problem with the Internet. Many have complained about the speed of the Internet, specifically in the dorms.
“It was bad freshman year, but it’s gotten worse,” said sophomore nursing major Ebony Reeves. “I want to be able to sit in my room and actually use my desk and do my work, not be pressured for time in the library because I’m scared the Internet’s going to go out in my dorm.”
Piedmont’s information technology department is in charge of the Internet connection and other computer programs on campus.
“We continually make improvements to our infrastructure and on our internet connection speed,” said Shahryar Heydari, head of the IT Department. “We have increased the speed over the years.”
Not only has the Internet slowed down, but new firewalls have been put up to block video-streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.
“We will have to limit access to some websites like Netflix and Hulu because it slows down the Internet,” said Heydari. “A typical user now-a-days has more than three Internet Protocol addresses.”
Every device that is connected to the public Internet is assigned an IP address, a unique number consisting of four dotted-quad numbers, according to whatismyipaddress.com.
“[Different IP addresses] create traffic throughout the connection,” said Heydari.
Heydari said that he and his team are in the process of updating the campus’ wireless and increasing the bandwidth tenfold.
“We have increased the connection over the athletic fields,” he said.
Student Government Association president Sam Thomas and representative Brandon Callahan have decided to take matters into their own hands by creating a survey and handing it out to students to get their reactions on the Internet.
“The survey was a way for us to get a chance to see how the students feel and what they want to see when it comes to the Internet,” said Callahan.
“I feel like the quality of the Internet is good, but for some reason it is not making it to the dorms,” said Thomas. “These dorms are not just living quarters; they’re home away from home.”
“Personally, all forms of Internet are a way to decompress. I don’t want to just study all the time,” said Callahan. “With the price tags that come with these dorms, we should feel at home.”
However, students have also complained about Internet connectivity on main campus in addition to the dorms.
“One of my friends was working on her homework for an online class in the library and the Internet went out,” said Reeves. “One of the librarians had to write her a note to give to her teacher because the work was due that night and there was no way she would be able to finish it before then.”
Heydari said that within the next two to three weeks the Internet speed will be increased from 200 megabits per second (mbps) to 1,000 mbps.
“I want the students to know that they are our number one priority,” he said.
Heydari plans to meet with the Vice President of the Academic Affairs and talk with students in their dorms and will be open for any questions students may have for him.
Callahan added that when the IT team upgrades the Internet, they will conduct another survey to get the students reaction a second time.
“We’re not trying to be adversarial towards the school,” said Callahan. “But [we want to] be the voice to push towards our goal.”