For the 2020-2021 school year, schools have had to switch from in-person classes to a hybrid model. For Augustana students, depending on the classes, there were fully virtual or hybrid classes. Having everything held online created a norm to deal with technical problems or wifi issues. 

When it came to being together with groups and clubs, meetings were all held virtually. If there were meetings or events that needed to be held in person, there were rules and spacing placed to keep everyone at a certain distance.

As I recall how my first year of college went during a pandemic, it seemed that when we used our computers, phones, etc. It became so normal to have wifi mess-ups. Changing our entire school lives to become virtual made us internalize every wifi glitch and bad signal because we were getting used to a new normal.  

As the spring semester came to an end, schools were left with the decision to either stay virtual or go in person. Augustana chose to go fully in-person while having the majority of campus fully vaccinated and upload proof of vaccination.  

Now that everyone atis in-person with their classes, it seems Augie’s wifi has gotten much worse. The building you’re in will somehow determine your wifi strength.

“This year I would rate [Augustana’s wifi] about a four, the last two years it hasn’t been amazing but it was never this bad. It drops at least once a day for about 10-15 minutes,” junior Riley Scranton said. “The spot on campus that gives the best wifi strength is probably around the Brew.”

This year the wifi is so much worse than before. It is especially worse when having to pull up reading for class discussions or typing up notes for a class. It delays the time in class for not only the students but for the professors as well.

I asked Sloane Mcilrath, junior, how she felt about Augie’s wifi this year as opposed to last year.  

“The wifi is 10x worse this year,” Mcilrath said. She also adds that the wifi “never works” when trying to login into the wifi for school purposes such as homework.

I have had trouble logging into the wifi on my computer many times when I have to do assignments for class. The average amount of time I have wasted in order for the wifi to hook up is 10-15 minutes. However, the longest I have had to wait was around 25 minutes.

The buildings where I get the worst signals are in Sorenson and The Brunner Theatre. Those two buildings I spend the majority of my time in and are without a doubt the slowest for signal strength.

If my computer is taking way too long I will default to my phone for smaller assignments. If my phone will not hook up to the wifi I will just have to use my data, which usually works, however it would be helpful if the wifi would not take as long as it does.

The school needs to take notice of how much it is a struggle to get on to the wifi. The students and staff need better wifi to go throughout our days on campus. The problem affects everyone on campus and needs to be fixed sooner rather than later.