USC to have campus-wide Wi-Fi

University Technology Services is in the process of equipping USC with complete wireless coverage by August 2010, with improvements starting next week.

The schedule, which UTS Public Relations Coordinator Kimberly South said is completely tentative, will add new wireless coverage to Flinn Hall, Maxcy College, Strom Thurmond Wellness & Fitness Center, Barnwell College, Sims and Hamilton College. The upgrade will take place between Nov. 10 and 13 and also includes the Roost, Green Quad, South Quad, East Quad and the Humanities office and classroom building.

The next phase of the wireless upgrade will equip Bates House, Bates West, the Close/Hipp building, Gambrell Hall and 1600 Hampton St. between Nov. 16 and 20. The last November phase is South Tower on Nov. 23. South said the December schedule should be announced soon and students, faculty and staff can keep up with the scheduled wireless upgrades by viewing UTS’s Web site.

South said these dates are subject to change based on factors such as weather, but so far there have not been any many major issues.

South said the project, a collaboration between AT&T and USC which began in the summer, is going to take a lot of time because there are so many buildings on USC’s campus, and many of them are historical.

AT&T was hired for the job because it worked out best for USC.

“We knew this was a need for the campus,” South said. “We hope we’ve come up with the best option for everybody.”

The new wireless system will unify USC’s wireless network into one central system. South said that with the current system, many departments have individual internal networks, but these will be switched over to the AT&T system.

In an interview with The Daily Gamecock in August, Vice president of information technology and CIO Bill Hogue said the current system is six or seven years old, and his office has never been completely satisfied with it.

With the upgrade, residents in USC dormitories should be able to access wireless Internet throughout the buildings. Right now, residents can receive coverage in common areas, but South said this upgrade should include wireless coverage to individual rooms.

Currently, the new Honors College dorm and West Quad are the only residence halls that offer wireless coverage all over. South said this is because these dorms are the newest on campus.

Sims resident Katie Kortier said she always has to use her Ethernet cable in her room because the current wireless system has never worked for her.

The change is something students have been looking forward to for a long time. When the wireless upgrade extends to Sims next week, Kortier said she will definitely take advantage.

“It’s going to be so much easier,” Kortier said.

Next week’s upgrade won’t just help students with Wi-Fi on their computers but should also help cell phone traffic on campus. Cell phones with Internet capability, such as BlackBerries and iPhones, will be able to run faster as well, Hogue said.

According to USC’s Web site, the logon process should be the same for the new Wi-Fi hotspots. Students will still use the “uscstudent” wireless name to access wireless.
For more information about USC’s wireless, visit uts.sc.edu/wireless.