Hey guys, I'm on a college campus and my internet access is always slow as hell, I'm talking like 32k speeds (at home i had cable vision with speed boost so i really feel the difference) I spoke to the administration about this and they gave me run around about. Basically i was wondering what are my other options? I was thinking of getting one of those wireless cards ,or because i have cingular getting an unlimited data plan and connecting my phone to my computer. Problem is my phone is not edge compatible. I know it seems crazy to be complaining about Internet on a college campus, but some days i cant even check my email its that slow. The optimal time to get on the internet is at 2am!!!!!!!!! Plz help. Thanks in advance.

Is it slow like this in all of the buildings or just the residences?

Sounds like someone is using most of the internet's bandwidth. Maybe some people are playing online games at the same time?

But yeh, you should ask the administration to change the internet connection. You paid for the internet, and you definitely have the right to have access to internet with "reasonable speed".

Online games dont really eat up bandwith, usually ping times are more important than high bandwidht for games.

Its more likely that punch of people are using p2p or other filesharing programs, those can really take all there is to take and leave nothing for others. But usually those campus networks have strict policy against any such thing...

Your Phone won't do you very good.

The Wifi Cards which run about $75 bucks a month for unlimited data transfer rates may work well for you. If you have very good cell coverage in your dorm it may work well. If not, it will not.

Make sure they have "satisfaction guarentee" so you can cancel if it does not work well for you. It will not be anything great. But may work better than an over-loaded network.

Also, how is the performance of others in your dorm?
It would be nice to know if its your PC, Your Room, Your Floor, Your building, etc...

Actually, online games take up loads of bandwidth. When I play C&C3 with my friends online, my roommate can't even go online and surf.

Filesharing is also a problem in school. Even with strict rules in place, I don't think the school actually enforce them.

get sprint wireless if u get anything, i get about 120KB dls 30KB uploads and about 70 ping to most game servers in the area. Not amazing but it works very very well.

and no they dont. ur school might have a limit to how many connections a room can have open, but your c&c game doesnt use very much at all. Also, to the OP try checking with ur schools network tech, they might have a packet shaper that doesnt like something ur doing and is limiting your access.

Back in the day, long before the public became aware of the 'net, the 'net belonged to research universities and the government.

I first became aware of the internet when the engineering firm that I worked for was doing research for a state government agency and we were using A LOT of computer time on the Cray Supercomputer over at UCLA.

Before you go bitching about your 'net access, ask yourself who or what is sucking up the computer time at your school.

Even with powerful desktops yada yada, there are still computer tasks that are being performed by major universities (and some not so major ones as well) for various outside clients.

Overall P2P makes sense. But there are other activities as well.

Try a different network card.

I'm strongly inclined to believe that there is P2P traffic going like crazy on that network... online games really aren't bandwidth hogs. What university do you attend? I imagine most of the major universities are starting to filter/restrict P2P traffic on their internet connection.

If everyone on campus was getting 32k speeds there would be mutiny, no? It must be something localized, possibly on your PC only. Ask other students WTF is up and don't take no for an answer from the school.

If they have wifi also grab a laptop and check it's connection speed at www.speakeasy.net

I go to Oakwood College, a small college in Alabama. I used to go to the University of Delaware and the speeds were like T3.
The whole building is this slow, everyone complains about the speed on the internet. i heard that the wifi (which is only available in the lobby) is much faster. The internet speeds at the library are much faster, but even those are like low-grade DSL speeds.

Some Companies actually do offer "Satisfaction Guarenteed".
Often it may depend on the state.

There was a Class Action Law Suit brought by a number of states requiring this since many consumers were sold a product outside of acceptable coverage range.

Not all states are covered by the class action lawsuit so the poster much check. And some companies offer it anyway.

Also, its likely not a traffic shaper based upon P2P, since he noted that email was also effected. It's likely a traffic shaper to limit total band-width to the dorm.

Note: If the dorm has cable to the rooms or anything like that, it may be possible to buy you own modem. Not likely, could check.

Either a few people are using too much bandwidth or they have some bottleneck on their netwrok in that building. IT could be as simple as a bad cable in their network or a misconfigured switch. I think if you get enough of the people in the building to complain you may get something done. I think you should check the connection speed via the website listed in an earlier post for a few buildings on camous and then you have hard documnetation of the problem. Put it in a nice Excel spreadsheet with charts or graphs for a little extra impact.

I would document your actual performance over several dates and times. Use a system such as www.broadbandreports.com which will allow you to compare your results with others in your area. Print them out, and include them in a letter. If they have made any promises as to what you are getting for your money, then you might get some action.

---good luck---

At Penn State if you use too much bandwidth per week you can eventually get banned from the internet lol.

no people just don't know how to configure that type of network. That happens at college campuses all the time. I have seen it plenty. When the IT people don't know how to manage a T* network it can be as slow or slower than dialup. Not joking

Can you say Myspace! I mean really think of all the student at your college that go to myspace. And with all the music and videos on peoples myspace of course its going to get slow.

Is everyone's connections slow or just yours?

PS - Wrong section.

I worked tech support for my university and can tell you a few things:

1. Virus/Malware infections are extremely common in the dorms. They spit a ton of extra traffic out on the network. Network admins might limit the bandwidth or cut people off to prevent the stuff from spreading. Also, if you have a virus on your computer it may be limiting your connection.

2. A ton of people download files from P2P networks, eating up the bandwidth. Again, network admins might cut you off or cap your speeds for downloading, or even an entire subnet if it means slowing down file sharing.

3. A ton of people game on the network. This adds a lot of traffic above and beyond "normal use."

4. Network admins at universities are a-holes that don't give a crap about your internet experience. Read your housing contract, they will not guarantee you quality of service. The same goes for cable TV. They split the signal between too many rooms, everyone gets crappy reception.

5. Network admins are overworked doing network filtering/monitoring, controlling rogue devices on the network (eg. a student brings in their own router.. that one will get you banned since most routers come with DHCP enabled by default). They aren't going to listen unless you create a lot of noise. What you need to do is get your story in the university newspaper. And the local town newspaper. And get a petition going. You need everyone to get involved, keep their phones ringing and their inbox full. Talk with your RA to get the floors organized. It helps to find an RA that is fed up with the problem as well.