With reports of patchy wireless service on the rise, VSU’s Information Technology group has acknowledged that there are multiple issues contributing to the problem, the most prevalent being network congestion in the afternoon and evenings.

“We are working to arrange and pay for a ResNet segment dedicated for use by the residence halls and separated from the rest of the campus network to alleviate congestion,” said Joe Newton, director of Information Technology.

Secondly, there are dead zones in Georgia Hall and Langdale Hall, which cannot be repaired until the infrastructure is re-engineered. By implementing a residential network, many of the problems in Langdale Hall will be alleviated.

However, VSU has to completely re-engineer the wireless services for Georgia Hall. For now IT suggests the use of a network cable in Georgia Hall to access the network. The re-engineering of Georgia Hall is planned for next year.

In addition to the dead zones, Odum Library is also affected by the removal of access points in the parts of the library where there is construction. However, according to IT, this dead zone does not affect anyone outside of the construction zone.

When connecting to VSU HallNet, students also report long wait times when waiting for the logon screen.

“When I used my laptop in the Education Center to do a take-home test, it took like 15 minutes to connect to the wireless,” said Victoria Rodriquez, a sophomore at VSU.

For issues like these, IT asks that students report their problem so that it can be established as either a solitary or widespread issue. Students can contact the Helpdesk at 229-245-4357 or helpdesk@valdosta.edu for assistance.

“Reported problems can help IT determine if there is a widespread issue.  Often, the Helpdesk [helps] users work through the issues to ensure that users’ computers are optimally configured to connect.  Without reporting problems to the Helpdesk, we may be delayed in finding the true character or scale of the problem,” said Newton.