Laptops can make your life portable: you can do your work wherever you go, even from the comfort of your own bed... until you have to get up and use someone else's computer for their Internet connection. Of course, you can get the Internet on a laptop, but keeping it plugged in eliminates the portability. The modern solution? Wireless internet connections so that students can work without cords or outlets. Keeping up with the times, the University is striving to provide wireless connections on campus.
Unfortunately, setting up a wireless connection requires a bit more than clicking on the Internet option on your computer while you're away from a port. More importantly, the rapid evolution of wireless products means that any wireless card that students buy will have to be updated in nine to 12 months.
"We're facing a lot of challenges in coming up with a final wireless policy - secure, encrypted, with support structures," Associate Director of Tufts Communications and Computing Services (TCCS) Doug Herrick said. "The systems are constantly changing. We don't want people to go out to buy these connection cards and then find, when they come back in September, they've updated the system, and their card is out of date."
To use the wireless Internet, students will have to buy wireless Ethernet cards, which cost from $80 to $200 - not to mention a laptop, if they don't own one already. After the purchase of regular Ethernet cards for the connections in dorm rooms and in the library, a wireless Ethernet card is an extra expense that tight-budgeted college students might want to spare.
Herrick leads the wireless effort at TCCS. Currently, he is conducting pilot programs around the three campuses in Ginn Library, Tisch Library, and Health Sciences Library. Wireless access points have been created where students can, after checking out wireless cards and installing the necessary software, experiment with the wireless Internet.
A drawback in the efficiency of the wireless system is that the new system is not as fast as the Ethernet connection that students and faculty are accustomed to. Wireless Internet works by beaming a signal from installed access points to the wireless Ethernet cards in range.
With a normal connection, the entire signal would go directly into your computer. The wireless system, however, divides the signal amongst all of its users. Therefore, the connection slows down as more people make use of it. The issue of wireless reception complicates things further. The closer your computer is to the access point, the stronger the connection and speed. When the computer is farther from the access point, the signal grows weak and can even cut out.
On the other hand, wireless internet allows students to access the Internet from everywhere. Not having to deal with tangled wires can be convenient when transporting a laptop from one location to another.
Other large institutions have instituted comprehensive wireless connections to their Internet system and have suffered huge security issues with their networks as a result. Wireless connections are very insecure: anyone with a wireless card can drive on campus and park near the library or another access point signal to gain access to our network. They can then send "spam" e-mail, distribute viruses, and even gain access to our networks.
To prevent this, Herrick wants to establish an encrypted system. "The person who drives up and grabs the [encrypted] signal will only be able to read gibberish," he said. With encryption in place, wireless connections should be as secure as wired ones.
Student opinion over the necessity of wireless Internet connection on Tufts' campus is mixed. Sophomore Vera Tatel thinks that wireless Internet, while not a necessity, would be useful.
"It's a luxury - a lot of things are at college. Just having Ethernet connection in our rooms is a luxury, but at the same time it is convenient," Tatel said.
Not all students think they would use the wireless option. Sophomore Melanie Blake, a chemical engineering major, said that it wouldn't be cost effective to buy enough memory for a laptop to run the software she uses for her classes.
"It's very worthwhile for most people, but I don't think it's worthwhile for most engineers," Blake said. "Most of us just probably wouldn't use it."
Other students like the idea of wireless connection but do not see it fitting into their working, established systems. Sophomore Danny Kleinman has a laptop, but he is already accustomed to plugging it into the many Internet ports on campus.
"There is no reason why I would need a wireless Internet connection. I think it's cool, but I don't think I'd need it," Kleinman said. "I've just kind of gotten used to being in places where I can plug into whenever it's necessary."
Previous use of the Internet via a wireless source may also influence student's desire to use wireless Internet at Tufts. Freshman Vincent Ebhojiaye has a wireless connection at home and a laptop at Tufts. He supports the University acquiring wireless Internet.
"I believe it provides an opportunity that will allow students to be more mobile. It's really ironic that people have laptops, yet they are still restricted to having to use their laptops in certain places," Ebhojiaye said.
Freshman Ali Meisel does not have wireless internet connection at home, but she does have a laptop at Tufts. She primarily uses her laptop in her room for work. When she has research to do in the library, she does her research and then goes back to her room to work.
"I don't see the necessity for it because they have the jacks in the library and the jacks in your room. I guess if they had it I'd use it, but I don't feel like there's something missing," she said.
