Students feel a disconnect

September 10, 2009 by Victoria Gonzalez 

Glitches hold up UNLV wireless network, leave students frustrated, without access

Students who had trouble connecting to the UNLV wireless network in recent weeks should be more satisfied now. Technology administrators say that after a few glitches the network is up and running again.

The wireless network was unavailable to some students as early as Aug. 24 – specifically those attempting to log in at the Student Union.

Many students complained to the Office of Information Technology that they could not access the login screen.

David Peers, manager of network development and engineering, said the issue has been resolved.
“A software patch was applied to the wireless management system on the evening of Sept. 1,” Peers said.

Since the problem was resolved, network engineers are monitoring any other reported problems related to wireless connections.

The issues began when the OIT identified a software bug. As a result, the management system vendor provided a patch for the software.

“The help desk and Network Operations Center dedicated many hours to isolating this bug and worked with the Network Development and Engineering staff closely to facilitate more advanced troubleshoot-ing,” Peers said.

Peers mentioned that there could be other problems hindering the connection to the wireless system including trouble with Web browser settings, operating system or a wireless card that the customer uses to connect to the network.

Students that have experienced difficulty with the connection are not happy about it.
Justine Abejuela, a junior health care administration major, was one of the students affected by the technical difficulties.

“It is annoying because I came to the library specifically to do my homework and I was not able to do it,” Abejuela said.

Justin Rosen, a senior marketing major, said he was not too bothered with the connection difficulties, but he may have been if he had any assignments due.

“It’s annoying because the login screen [wouldn’t] show up,” Rosen said.

More students would likely have been affected if it had not been for the fact that the technical problems occurred in the first weeks of the sememster, when many are not yet faced with heavy loads of coursework.

UNLV has a centralized system used to manage the about 600 wireless access points around campus. While all software is tested thoroughly before deployment, errors can occur under peak usage conditions, like during the first day of classes.

Bugs are not always caught before noticable problems occur since the testing is not done where there is a high volume of users.

Peers said his office is working to address these issues beforethey affect students.

“We have had direct meetings with the equipment manufacturer regarding our concerns with software bugs and stability of the system,” Peers said. “The manufacturer has actually made some changes in their testing procedures in response to our concerns.”

Peers believes these developments will prevent another episode like the one witnessed in the first days of this semester.

Wireless technology is developing quickly and UNLV is providing a wireless system to support a vast variety of wireless devices like laptops with Windows and Mac OS X, as well as PDAs and smart phones.