by Logan Meriwether, Student Reporter
With a new generation of students coming to Northwestern comes an upgrade to the dorms on campus.
Northwestern upgraded Wi-Fi systems in the dorms over the summer, changing them from cable Wi-Fi systems to wireless ones.
Students wanted a faster network not just for school, but also for video games and different streaming services, officials said. Instead of running around town or doing something outside, most students would rather stay in their rooms with a group of friends and play the newest video game.
Matt Adair, the university’s housing director, conducted a student survey last year on what needed to be improved in the dorms. He said he quickly learned that many students weren’t even using the cable Wi-Fi and wanted the upgrade.
Vice President for Administration Dr. David Pecha got a request for proposal to do a renovation of the technology in the dorms.
Pinnacle Network Solutions won the bid to install the new high-speed internet systems.
“Pinnacle took a few days longer to install the Wi-Fi than what we wanted, but they bent over backwards to make sure everything was up and running,” Pecha said.
The switch from cable to high-speed internet cost the university around $450,000.
Disbursed over time, the payments for high-speed internet through Pinnacle will be cheaper than cable through Suddenlink, Pecha said.
Once the contract is paid off, Northwestern will be saving money and getting a better quality of Wi-Fi for many years to come, Pecha said.
Elizabeth McMahan, a sophomore at Northwestern, said she has seen a big difference in the speed of the Wi-Fi when she is streaming movies on Netflix and HULU.
“It is nice knowing you can go to your room and not have to wait for your movie to quit buffering,” McMahan said.
Students that are frequent gamers are enjoying the new Wi-Fi because they are able to play online with their friends without losing connection to the server or having a lot of lag in their game play, they said.
This upgrade has improved the dorm life for many students, and they can’t wait to see what improvements will be next on campus, they said.