UF has cut the cord.
Students living in the Tolbert and Graham areas and the Keys Residential Complex are no longer tethered to Ethernet cables for Internet access in dorm common areas.
When students returned to UF for the spring semester, they were welcomed back with a new H-Net wireless Internet system known as the DHW network.
This is the second step of a three-part installation program that began with Hume Hall, Beaty Towers, Jennings Hall, Broward Area and Yulee Area last year.
The total cost of installing wireless Internet in the dorms is $600,000, which includes the cost of the final phase of installation, said Azfar Mian, director of Housing for Administrative Services.
The wireless Internet, when all phases are complete, will give more than 7,550 students wireless access in their residence halls, Mian said.
The Springs and Lakeside residential complexes and Murphree Area will have wireless access by July 1, Mian said.
“The school sent out an e-mail explaining that when we got back on campus we would have a CD waiting for us that would help us hook up to the wireless,” said Julice Ogando, a Yulee Hall resident.
“I had no clue they were installing wireless, and then suddenly we got the message. And next thing I knew we had access.”
Ogando feels that the wireless Internet is a natural decision and that all of the dorms should have it installed.
“I love to lounge,” Ogando said. “Having the wireless Internet allows me to get away from my uncomfortable desk chair in my room and have somewhere else to access the Internet from.”
However, the dorm wireless is not working perfectly for everyone. Alex Arcentales, a Jennings Hall resident, said he believes the wireless is slower than the wired connection.
“I prefer to work at my desk anyway, but I use the Ethernet cord rather than the wireless in the common rooms because it runs faster,” Arcentales said.
Even with the problems he has experienced, Arcentales said he feels adding the wireless Internet to the dorms is a generally good decision.
“It is great that everyone has options,” Arcentales said.
“It’s nice to have the choice to not be restricted by a wire.”
