Long Beach State resumed its in-person instruction in early February and students have been voicing concerns over the wifi’s quality due to the campus population increase.
Ashley Marina, an English literature major said she has trouble getting internet reception in some areas on campus.
“For the first few days on campus, it was really hard to connect. The worst is probably Peterson Hall for me,” Marina said. “That’s where the farthest of my classes go where it requires wi-fi and it takes a while to load up.”
Many other CSULB students have also reported difficulty connecting to the internet due to the in-person return number increasing from 42% to 72% this semester, according to the university dashboard.
Bryon Jackson, assistant vice president of CSULB’s Unified Technology Support said the campus’ wifi issues are “typical for the beginning of a new semester.”
Jackson said that at the beginning of the semester, technology support receives more requests for assistance for accessing the campus internet.
“Fortunately, our campus community entered the pandemic with a [strong] technology infrastructure,” Jackson said. “Including our campus network, Zoom, Beachboard, Microsoft online services, such as email, Teams, and so on.”
Jackson suggested CSULB students connect to the Eduroam network instead of Beachnet when experiencing connectivity difficulties.
“Eduroam provides superior wifi speeds, security, and reliability,” he said. “Access to university resources are limited while connecting to the [Beachnet] guest network, and Wi-Fi speed is significantly reduced.”
The Beachnet guest Wi-Fi is typically reserved for visitors or those who stay on campus for shorter amounts of time, which is why there is no password or login needed to access it, according to Jackson.
To help spread the word about Eduroam, the department has placed flyers around the school to help inform students.
Jackson said upcoming plans are to further improve the campus network and extend internet coverage to the three campus parking structures and continue expanding access throughout the campus.