SFU Surrey -The “Technological” Campus with the Slowest Internet?

Photos

SFU Surrey Lab

see larger image

uploaded by jal24

• 

  uploaded by jal24 | add comment

• 

  uploaded by jal24 | add comment

With the recent establishment of SFU Surrey in 2002, it has been noted by many as one of the most modern and technologically advanced universities in North America. There is endless praise over its modern design and architecture combined with the large technological innovations to enhance the learning experience. Despite this campus being notes as one for the future, there seems to be a lack of a fast and consistent wireless internet connection at peak hours.

Almost everywhere we go today has wireless internet for us to use for our stay. The local Starbucks, our workplace, and most public places grant us access to browse the internet on our laptops and phones; SFU Surrey is no different.

Three different networks exist for use across the campus, each of them gradually get bogged down with the large amount of traffic throughout the day. SFUNET is the most popular network, as it is unsecure and readily available for anyone who can receive a wireless connection; meaning it’s the one that bogs down the fastest during the peak of the day. Even though the SFUNET-SECURE and EDUROAM networks require additional steps of authentication and are usually less populated, the substantial amount of lag is not an exception.

Internet speeds drop way below dial-up speeds at this “modern” institution at times during the day when the internet is crucial for our learning activities.

At other nearby Universities, the scenario is different. Students are blessed with fast internet connections that stay constant throughout the day. Web pages load instantly and short audio clips can be downloaded in no more than 15 seconds; a milestone that a recently built university cannot achieve.

As mentioned by a friend of mine who attends the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), the downloading speed at UFV averages between 1.0-3.0 megabytes per second, while SFU Surrey students barely reach 100 kilobytes per second, which is not even 1/10th of the speed seen at UFV.

UBC and even SFU Burnaby also blaze past the Surrey campus with speeds close to UFV. All 3 Universities mentioned above are larger in size than SFU Surrey, so it’s pretty obvious we’re doing something wrong here in Surrey.

SFU Surrey needs to maintain its status of being the “technological” campus by providing a consistent internet connection for us to use and enjoy. It’s quite clear that we are being left behind in the dust in the race of internet speeds. What’s the logic in boasting the idea of having state of the art lecture halls with the newest sound travelling features equipped with high quality projectors, when our internet is as fast as it was 10 years ago.