Help is on the way for Wi-Fi problems on campus, said Jan Gerenstein, associate director of residential technology.

Gerenstein said the current system has its flaws.

Matt Parks, Information Technology Services (ITS) director of network services, said the program is making great strides.

“ITS is doubling back with all buildings to ensure coverage is where it needs to be,” Parks said. “At this point, the new Wi-Fi around campus is 99 percent installed. The process of verification in the next couple of weeks should be done. Efforts are ahead of schedule.”

ITS and ResTech make a joint effort to fix connection problems on campus.

“The Wi-Fi upgrade in the residence halls was completed by ITS last summer,” Gerenstein said. “But there have been some isolated issues to work out since then that were related to the configuration of the access points, for example. While ResTech and ITS can identify some of those problems, we really want residents to contact the ResTech Helpdesk to report any problems so can work with ITS to resolve them as quickly as possible.”

Xavier Sproling, freshman business administration major, has experienced Wi-Fi connection problems in residence halls.

“I have had a few issues with Wi-Fi,” Sproling said. “But only in Grant. I feel it’s only because it’s a new building.”

Freshman mathematics major Crispin Brim has a hard time finding Wi-Fi hot spots on campus.

“It is difficult to find places with good quality Wi-Fi,” Brim said. “But once you find a good spot it’s not that bad.”

Gerenstein said residence halls have now been 100 percent covered with wireless Internet; however, connection issues continue to occur.

“We did a Wi-Fi survey in November and we know that many students are unhappy with the performance of NAC [Network Access Control],” Gerenstein said. “So we have been working with ITS on improving the experience for residents.”

According to the Vision 2020 website, the facilities and environmental groups are working to bring NIU’s technology up to par with other institutions before 2020. The upgraded technology includes covering all areas of campus and making sure Wi-Fi is sufficient for all devices, including cellphones.