Matthew Greene
palmettoreport@gmail.com

(Rock Hill, S.C.) — Many Winthrop University students, especially those who live on campus, have expressed frustration about the internet connection on campus, as it can impact their ability to turn assignments in on time.

Some students have described the Wi-Fi on campus as “turbulent,” often going from a state of being connected and unconnected.

“A few times of I need to watch a video for my major specifically and the Wi-Fi just…it goes down to like three bars, then two bars and it just stops working for a little bit and I just need to refresh the page over and over again,” said Hunter Bokalosky, a theatre major who lives on campus.

While this has gone on for some time, many students are unaware that the Winthrop Computing and Information Technology department has been working to improve the system.

“We’ve tried to upgrade the wi-fi across campus and that is kind of done slowly in steps, maybe three buildings in a year or so, and we are not done in the process yet. We still have buildings we would like to do,” said Nate Fisher, a network engineer with the IT department.

Fisher says the department has been making upgrades since the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to improve the timeliness, reliability and strength of the Wi-Fi system.

Additionally, the IT department recently announced a new certificate for users on the Winthrop Secure network.

“Winthrop Secure is secure by what is called an excel certificate. It’s like a public key, a private key soft of exchange and every year we have to renew it,” said Patrice Bruneau, the assistant VP for Computing and Information Technology.

Bruneau say future adjustments to the Wi-Fi system would depend on funding and maintenance, as renovations to buildings on campus can lead to new wiring and access points.