A Study in Internet Connectivity
“We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.”
Daniel 6:5 (RSV; emphasis added)
The Student Apartments on UD’s campus, often referenced by their colloquial name “the Apps,” have been the locus of much suffering over the past month. Many of them have been deprived of a very important connection: their WiFi.
Out of twenty Apps residents polled on their WiFi situation this week, five said that their internet service was limited in range or only worked some of the time; fourteen students said that their WiFi did not work at all, while only one said that it worked well.
Junior Philosophy major Francis Porcaro described a harrowing night of attempting to watch a movie in the Apps: “We had to stream it from our buddy’s mobile phone hotspot because there is no internet,” said Mr. Porcaro. “The movie ran at like 480p and it buffered every fifteen minutes for one minute; it was like we had little intermissions.”
480p is a video resolution containing pixels which form 480 horizontal lines and 854 vertical columns. The numbers seem impressive until one learns that this resolution was used on old security cameras and analog television broadcasts, among other things. By contrast, a standard screen nowadays typically runs movies at 720p, a.k.a. HD: 720 horizontal lines and 1280 vertical columns.
Other students have been without WiFi for so long that they doubt whether WiFi in the Apps is even real. “I mean, it’s nonexistent,” says junior philosophy major and Apps resident Natalie Benavidez.
Benavidez describes a fate all too common these days among App-dwellers; many turn to their mobile hotspots to make up for nonfunctional WiFi only to run out of cellular data. “Your hotspot only works so much,” Benavidez says; “I just do all my homework in Braniff.”
According to another apartment resident, junior Computer Science major Ignatius Gartland, WiFi’s connection extends to both work and leisure, and thus its absence is felt strongly in both areas. “You don’t just use it for studying; you’re also using it for hanging out,” he says. “You want to sit back and watch a movie with some of the guys or look something up.”
Gartland continues to say that limitations imposed by poor WiFi on studying are especially inconvenient: “You can go elsewhere to study, and in some ways it’s good because it forces you outside the apartment, but there’s other times when it’s late, you’ve just gotta get something done before tomorrow and you do not feel like going to the library – it’s just a hassle.”
In response to this all-too-precedented crisis, the University of Dallas IT Department has shown great resilience and bravery. Their solutions have met with limited success so far, but they are determined in their mission. Their dedication and creativity know no bounds. Zechariah Mitchell, junior Theology major, said:“The IT department actually installed the WiFi router for all of the apartments in our living room.”
Living rooms aside, the IT department is actively working to resolve the problem and address students’ internet connection needs. In an October 3 update, the IT webpage acknowledges the WiFi shortage problem and describes the IT response thus:
“Today electricians are in the process of installing electric service in multiple locations for new network switch boxes that will provide reliable Internet…network engineers are standing by to install the network boxes and connect the internet. The teams estimate the physical work will continue Monday October 6 with internet service resuming as early as Tuesday or Wednesday.”
The IT Department warns: “timelines may change if technicians encounter obstacles.” This truth has been demonstrated many times, not only across the UD grounds but also in the wider world, a notable example being the events of “Avengers: Endgame.”
For concerned parties old-fashioned enough to type in a web address from a sheet of paper, the IT Department update page can be found and followed at https://udallas.edu/offices-services/technology/updates.php
Complaints have been voiced, actions will be taken, and connections continue to be made, one way or the other. An article is currently wrapping up in the single corner where a certain App’s WiFi currently functions; the Braniff pilgrims conclude their studies, and the moviegoers watch another ad at 480p. The ways of WiFi are mysterious, but the Appians will endure; life isn’t merely about the WiFi connections we make along the way, but it doesn’t hurt to dream a little. I think I’ll dream about the router in Zach’s living room.