By Nate Perez

There have been complaints about Quincy University’s Wi-Fi in previous semesters and this semester was no exception.

Some students, like senior Rachel Binash, returned to campus and discovered that her devices would not connect to the Wi-Fi.

“I was not able to connect to the Wi-Fi on Saturday when I moved in and still couldn’t that Monday, which was very frustrating because I was wanting to get my schedule and emails checked for school to start Monday at Blessing,” Binash said.

Binash was pleased with the service Information Technology provided in connecting her laptop, but she is still concerned with the overall ability of the network.

“Some social media apps do not work on their (other students) phones resulting in people using their data plans, one specifically is Facebook,” Binash said. “I understand that they are trying to fix the problem and it won’t happen overnight, but it does need to be changed.”

Tony Hayes, chief information technology officer at Quincy University, has been working on the situation and has been keeping students informed via email throughout the process.

“It seems to be mostly Windows 10 and the truth is we aren’t 100 percent sure why it is happening. Originally when this was happening we were watching the logs and we could see in the logs that everyone in the school was having a problem,” Hayes said. “We think that could have been caused by a surge on our network of too much traffic all at once, so it was timing out. That worked itself out and after that we found people were still having trouble and we diagnosed it and figured out a solution.”

Hayes understands that Wi-Fi is a fundamental resource for students and works hard to ensure the students’ needs are being addressed. Hayes will be leaving QU for a job at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, but he doesn’t want students to worry.

“It’s been great working here. The students are the best part about working here, even when they come in frustrated with an IT problem. Once you talk with them and let them know you are here to help them and you are trying your very best, they understand, they work with you, and they leave happy even if you haven’t solved their problems,” Hayes said.

The updates to the Wi-Fi connections on campus will continue.

“We are working on a transition plan, we have the basics but we want to iron it all out before we release it,” Hayes said.

According to Hayes, the plan will be released in the next couple of weeks.