We have implemented several changes to the Founders Hall network that appear to have resolved the wireless connectivity and performance issues. These changes include:

• Configuration changes in the access points, including:
  • Upgraded the firmware
  • Removed peer-to-peer network capability
  • Increased scanning frequency
  • Firewall changes to reduce potential for unnecessary blocking
  • removed rate limiting
    
    
• Separated the network into 2 SSIDs: “Founders Hall” (at 5GHz) and “Founders Hall Legacy” (at 2.4 GHz).
  • Students should always use the “Founders Hall” network, which will offer better connectivity and performance.
  • Some older devices, such as smart TVs, may require a 2.4 GHz connection, for which the “Founders Hall Legacy” network can be used.
    
    
• Based on in-depth diagnostic analysis conducted with Xterra, we reduced the number of available access points and boosted the signal on the remaining access points. This resulted in more stable connections for our students.
  
  

The last of these changes were made on Friday, February 24th. Since then, we have been monitoring network performance closely, and it appears that the issues reported by students over the past several weeks are now resolved. Students who had been experiencing frequent but intermittent performance issues and lost connectivity are now reporting a consistently stable connection.

We’ve also deployed two ethernet study areas on the 2nd and 4th floors for residents to use if they require a faster connection or they would like to use the internet in a more social setting.

Our next steps are to continue to monitor network performance and stability, to ensure the changes we made continue to remediate the issues. We are also seeking input from students in Founders Hall to validate improved performance and identify any further issues that need to be addressed.

We are pleased to report that most of the network issues that our community faced in the Fall 2022 semester have been resolved. The campus network is now considered stable and delivering high-quality, high-speed service across campus. Below are some of the steps we took in Fall 2022 to remediate the network issues and improve performance:

• Switched our primary service provider from AT&T to Webpass, which increased our bandwidth.
  
• Upgraded a hardware module that enabled us to leverage the higher bandwidth offered by Webpass.
  
• Installed a new router, replacing an aging router that had created a bottleneck in the distribution of service to campus.
  
• Made several changes to the routing configuration, which simplified the routing and eliminated bottlenecks.
  
• Resolved a DHCP issue in which IP addresses were not being correctly assigned to devices as they connected to the network
  
  

Additionally, we have contracted with Xterra Solutions on an ongoing basis for network monitoring, issue resolution, and additional network improvement projects. In addition to the above upgrades, there are several projects under consideration to improve the reliability and speed of our network, as well as to prepare for the campus expansion over the next few years. We are confident that with this partnership, we can be more proactive and responsive in our ability to provide reliable internet service to the campus.