By APU TIMES Journalists
Brief Summary
APU Times conducted an online survey regarding students’ experience of using APU WiFi Network from June 13 to July 7. We found that almost 99% of students met troubles in accessing the network with 8 out of 10 having to resort to using personal hotspots to get online. Cafeteria is noted as the most unreliable WiFi area as less than 9% of respondents rated it favorably.
And as the problem affects both students and faculty members, more issues lie within it. From interference in academic activities, unequal internet access to students from different socioeconomic backgrounds, to technical and financial matters.
In an effort to be the students’ voice and a bridge between students and APU, we try to evaluate what action needs to be taken to improve the WiFi network that has been a daily concern for students using the results of the survey. As the survey suggested, we divided the recommendation into enhancing Wi-Fi equipment and active monitoring, as well as some intakes from the faculty members.
The Problem
As technology continues to infiltrate every aspect of our lives, the significance of a reliable and high-speed internet connection has become more substantial than ever. Within the confines of a university campus, where knowledge is sought, connections are made, and innovation thrives, WiFi has become an essential tool.
If WiFi connection has become an inevitable part of learning, why are we still having bad WiFi connection? The APU campus is notorious for its slow and interrupted WiFi connection that constrains online classes, assignments, quizzes that are essential to our everyday learning on campus. As APU Times, we have conducted a range of interviews and surveys to find just how much students are affected by the problematic WiFi connections.
The constant hassle to record online attendance, open class materials online, and even completing quizzes on Moodle has caused massive anxiety to students on whether they are doing their courses properly. The random WiFi disconnection that occurs at times also causes trouble for students to participate in Zoom meetings and classes.
The continuous academic hindrance due to the WiFi problem doesn’t exclusively apply to students, where it came to a point that professors are directly affected in their teachings. According to Professor Matthew Gaydos, the internet issue reduces the flexibility of his teaching style. Using online learning platforms like Padlet, Quizlet, and Kahoot to engage the students can be a vexing experience due to the high traffic that limits the WiFi access for the rest of the students. From another interview with Professor Roux Petrus Willem, he revealed that the option he chose to tackle the bad connection in his office is to rely on LAN cable instead of wireless connection. This goes on to show that poor WiFi connections are a common problem encountered by students and faculty members.
“In terms of speed, things won't load quickly, websites would detect traffic from students as fraudulent, making it difficult to implement activities in class that are web based, as it delays class activities. It can be pretty disruptive, thus, making it harder to use various websites in class.” said Professor Gaydos.
Although Professor Roux agreed that digital infrastructure should be the campus' first priority, “I think the responsibility goes both ways”, he said. It should not excuse students from completing their assignments. Students have to be aware of areas that can and can’t support their learning activity then adjust accordingly to the situation. Some students end up facilitating themselves with personal hotspots, but the main problem still persists. Do students really have to spend more after the big amount of tuition fees they have paid?
Some suggested that moving location to buildings that have better WiFi connection would be a solution. But concern should be paid to how each area has limited seating capacity for students to stay in. It also brings us back to the point that high traffic and heavy data transfer are some of the factors to the whole WiFi problem. Coming from how the suggestion deviates from the main issue, we argue that it is rather an unaccommodating way out instead of a sustainable fix.
This issue is further highlighted as we realized that there are many students hailing from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. Specifically talking about APU, which is well-known for its international exposure, various students come from different economic backgrounds, it is quite well-observed that the device that they are using for academic purposes is equivalent to the economic condition that they are in.
Specific version of each device significantly influences the speed and efficiency of internet connectivity. Naturally, the pricing of these devices becomes a factor that relates to students’ economic backgrounds. There are instances where students using older versions of Windows experience more difficulty staying connected to the internet. This becomes particularly frustrating during critical moments like quizzes when sudden disconnections happen. Consequently, it highlights the unjust mixmatch in accessibility, specifically pertaining to device-related issues, where certain individuals are unable to enjoy connectivity compared to others.
As this nerve-bugging issue is still going around, it becomes increasingly apparent that most of the students even used their own personal mobile data which is not even a concrete diction to begin with. This distressing issue highlights the persistently unreliable nature of the APU WiFi and the subsequent financial implications it has on students. Considering the long-run term implications, relying on personal mobile data plans proves to be far from budget-friendly for university students
One of the Exchange Students from Brunei Darussalam, Najiha, shared firsthand that she had to spend approximately ¥3,000 for her personal mobile data. In contrast to her home university in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, where disconnections are rare, Najiha experienced a higher likelihood of getting disconnected while at APU. It is disheartening to realize that even as an exchange student, she had to bear such expenses every month, despite the fact that she should not have been required to pay anything for the Wi-Fi provided in her dorm or on campus. This situation highlights the unfortunate reality that even in situations where connectivity should be readily available and free of charge, some individuals are still burdened with financial constraints and have to allocate a significant portion of their budget to stay connected.
APU is relatively small (with less than 10,000 students), compared to other sizable universities. Although there are a total of 5976 students, not everyone goes to campus every day. Compared to universities like Tokyo University, and Ritsumeikan University, which have upwards of 30,000 students, APU’s campus has a much lower number of daily users. Managing a WiFi connection on a campus of 6000 students surely can’t be that difficult, can it?
Exchange students from other universities who are currently using APU’s WiFi have expressed their dissatisfaction with the WiFi connection, comparing its quality to campuses in their home universities. For example, an exchange student from the University of North Florida, Nur Chodry found that while she never faced any problems at her home university, instances of disconnection and lack of WiFi in outdoor spaces have caused her distress.
APU has one of the highest tuition fees among private universities in Japan, yet the quality of the campus WiFi fails to reflect this. Since access to robust and fast WiFi has emerged as a fundamental right for students, enabling them to engage in online research, collaborate with peers, and participate in virtual classrooms, must be a top priority in budget allocation The demands placed on the campus network have skyrocketed in recent years, driven by the expansion of the use of smart devices, data-intensive applications, and the growing trend of remote learning. To keep pace with these evolving needs, especially since the trend of smart schools and IOT based learning has expanded, APU must prioritize and invest in robust WiFi infrastructure.
Survey Findings
APU Times conducted a general survey regarding students’ experience of using APU WiFi Network. The online form was opened from June 13 to July 7 and it is accessible to all APU students. We ensured that one student can only access the survey once using one email account. We managed to collect 512 responses from Undergraduate and Graduate students which comprised 8.6% of the total number of APU students based on the statistics shown in its website (As of May 1, 2023; 5,976 people). However, we should acknowledge that this is just a rough number of all students regardless of their status whether they are participating in campus activities, taking leave of absence or in an exchange program, or whether they are currently residing in Beppu or not. Therefore, we argue that active daily student users of APU WiFi Network should not be more than 5,000 people. Hence, the sample size that we have already sufficed the academic threshold of to be a trustworthy survey.
The survey consisted of two sections; a quantitative rating and qualitative feedback and comments regarding the topic. The quantitative section measured three different factors; a general question whether the respondent has ever experienced any problems connecting with APU WiFi network, a rating list of each building’s WiFi reliability, and the number of respondents who have to use personal hotspot to get internet access. The qualitative part of the survey will be discussed below.
Out of 512 responses we received, only 8 respondents said that they never experienced any problem in using APU On-Campus WiFi, which means close to 99% of all students have met difficulties accessing the network. This fact shows that the WiFi network is not reliable and definitely does not meet students’ expectations.
We asked all respondents to rate the WiFi’s reliability in nine spaces around campus through a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being no WiFi connection available and 5 as fast internet connection. Scales of 2 and 3 symbolized occurring problems with the WiFi network and a band of 4 means decent internet speed with few to no connection problems. Note that the respondents were not required to rate all buildings rather the ones that they use often during their on-campus activity. All but two spaces, H building and Student Union, E building second floor, received more than 400 responses. The former received 346 while the latter got 378 ratings.
H Building
Student Union
From the nine buildings assessed, none received more favorable judgements compared to the problematic experience with library and J building (including Green Commons) being the only buildings which had good ratings beyond 30%. Excluding them, on average 84% of respondents measured the WiFi network in all buildings as unreliable.
Library
J Building
The worst performing WiFi network is the area covering Cafeteria as 9 out of 10 respondents said that they encounter problems accessing the internet with a substantial 13% could not even get any connections.
Cafeteria
Of the 504 respondents who experienced difficulties accessing APU WiFi Network, 434 of them admitted that they had to resort to their personal internet hotspot due to the persistent problem of connecting to the network. This fact shows that students are so desperate with on-campus networks, they would rather pay extra money to get steady internet connection in their daily activities. It is very much unfortunate that students became so hopeless in retrying to connect with the WiFi which should have been available and free as it is an integral component of the tuition fees that all students pay.
Student’s Comments
Through the comment section, we gave students a chance to describe their specific experience in using APU WiFi Network. 359 respondents gave their comments and here are some of the notable ones;
"I often get disconnected or I struggle to connect to it. Most of the time the Internet is very slow. If I have online classes, I get disconnected a lot from the Zoom class because of Internet issues so it is very inconvenient to follow the class.”
After the reopening of campus, some courses are still offered online and many students who have classes in between other classes tend to attend the meeting using the campus WiFi. However, as stated here, the comfort of doing the class on-campus presents itself as an inconvenience due to frequent disconnections during online classes.
“I can't even count how many respons and attendance checks I have missed because of the internet issue. Or how many times I had to start taking a test after 10 mins because it wasn't connecting to the internet. The sad part is since APU is so high up in the mountain the mobile data also doesn't work properly.”
Once the attendance records and grades become affected due to causes beyond students’ control, it usually results in the students being faced with additional burdens which has often resulted in efforts such as trying to connect with personal mobile data. In accordance, we have an account of a student who claims to carry additional burden of mobile data expenses.
“I pay an extra 550¥ every month to use a personal hotspot option since the school WiFi doesn’t stay connected well and it’s not fast, especially when many use it at the same time like in exams or for attendance.”
It is evident that many students are most likely to resort to alternatives within their reach that would usually be counted as an unexpected hassle, especially when they are to expect reliable and fast Wi-fi.
“WebAuth often disconnects by itself and needs you to login again, which is inconvenient for having online classes. Additionally in FII building in the furthest classrooms on the first floor, there is no WiFi for a majority of students.”
In APU campus, currently 3 types of WiFi servers are provided, including the new APU-Xau1th, APU-Webauth and eduroam. Although these servers are accessible throughout campus for all electronic devices, they all require students to login multiple times as they move through the campus, making them disconnect automatically which disrupts many student’s presence in online activities. On top, the lack of any reliable WiFi connections in most buildings is also quite frequent among students where some vicinities are particularly more affected than others.
Some students have also stated that their internet has been getting disconnected during quizzes and online class activities. In terms of Language classes which mostly take place in D, F and FII building, the probability of getting disconnected from the wifi is 36.4%, 43.6% and 45.5%. This has caused immense frustration among many students, specially within the group of students who are taking Language classes within the mentioned vicinities. Sudden disconnects at inconvenient times has resulted in many students claiming to have missed their attendances, important lectures and even quizzes, that have had a measurable impact on the grades of affected students. As most of these buildings harbor language classes that have at least 40 students at max, it is strongly suggested by many students to have the bandwidth increased around these buildings to further strengthen the network. Although we have not specifically assigned our survey to gather data outside of APU Campus, we still had some participants leaving comments about problems with AP House wifi as well. Implying that the WiFI problem might even go beyond campus school area and even affects the residents of AP Houses,
The recommendation
As a way to evaluate what action needs to be taken to improve the WiFi network that has been a daily concern for students, through the survey APU Times seeks suggestions from students on what they think APU should do about it. Out of the 308 suggestions we received, two categories of improvement stood out the most: The need to enhance APU’s WiFi equipment and active monitoring on the network itself.
Enhancing the WiFi Equipment
There are several ways in which students think the network can be improved by enhancing the WiFi equipment. Summarizing students’ suggestions, we conclude that it can be done by:
1. Changing the network provider
Different network providers offer different quality in regards to their features, notably in the speed, bandwidth, range and the reliability (consistency) of the WiFi. Selecting the best package with the best set of qualities will improve the quality of WiFi in APU.
2. Providing more routers
Providing more routers that can handle more users at the same time is especially important in places where students tend to study and hold activities. In addition to that, students are dissatisfied with the range of the WiFi connection, requesting a wider range of networks in every place and corner of the APU campus.
3. Securing the accessibility of the WiFi connection
Ensuring that the campus uses the wifi that can be accessed from all students’ computers, regarding the capability of the computer itself, and noting that all students have the same rights to utilize the WiFi network as well as to get the same quality of WiFi.
4. Bandwidth Expansion
Bandwidth, defined as the amount of information the students are able to receive every second, is crucial to this issue. The expansion in bandwidth will result in a reduced amount of time students need to download and transfer data due to the increased amount of information they can receive and send at once.
Active Monitoring
In order for APU to be able to navigate the WiFi network situation on campus and for them to be able to maintain it at the best quality possible, there are two important things APU must pay attention to.
APU needs to do daily monitoring on the WiFi network. Daily monitoring would give thorough insights for APU to understand the issue more comprehensively. This could help APU to analyze the problem and come up with specific solutions according to the situation.
Scheduled maintenance is needed to ensure the dependability of the WiFi system. i Technicians would be preferable as the root of the problem could be identified and fix accordingly.
Professor Hary Gunarto’s Intake
In trying to get a different point of view on the issue and explore different reasons why such a problem exists, APU Times conducted an interview with Professor Hary Gunarto Hary. Though hesitant to get in-depth on the technical issue, Professor Gunarto gave a detailed explanation of some possible reasons why the WiFi network at APU does not work as it is intended to. "There are four possible factors," he claimed. These factors, he emphasized, are related to the installation of the WiFi routers.
The first one, regarding the signal strength in APU, is that WiFi signals in places and rooms with thick walls, lots of furniture, and other obstacles tend to have a weaker signal due to the interference to the connection. This also causes different areas to have different quality WiFi experiences. Above that, APU needs to be mindful of the placement of the routers as well. “Putting the router in the middle without any obstacles surrounding it is better,” said Professor Gunarto.
The second problem is the network speed or the bandwidth. APU needs to take into consideration the upload and download speeds of its WiFi networks. "The ideal standard for universities is to have a balance—in this case, the same speed—between the upload and download speeds since students often have the obligation to upload and download files and class materials," Professor Gunarto stated. He then proposed the idea that this can be solved by choosing the suitable router types according to APU students’ needs.
The third problem that might arise with this in-class activities is with regard to the number of students (network users). Classes that have more students tend to have more problems than classes with fewer students. One way to diminish this is by providing more routers in classes with more students, just like the survey suggested.
The fourth problem that needs to be addressed is the WiFi version which APU uses. Updating the WiFi system continuously to the most updated version might help improve the network connection. For example, upgrading from WiFi-4 to WiFi-6. It is also crucial to disclose the detailed information of the WiFi system and its conditions to increase transparency between the campus and the students.
Concluding the interview, Professor Gunarto provided an alternative to consider using WiMax instead of WiFi as WiMax comes with higher speed and wider coverage. Besides that Professor Gunarto also suggested students utilize the Wired Ethernet connection from the computer room to submit homeworks, and other large files of learning materials. However, we argue that it is APU’s responsibility to ensure all students can access the WiFi connection from anywhere within the campus, particularly if it is related to the learning experience. Wired Ethernet connection can be used under some circumstances, but using it as a solution to the existing WiFi problems APU faces is just a way of fleeing from and disregarding the issue. Therefore, APU Times stood with the idea that APU has the responsibility of solving the WiFi problems.
Learn more: Survey Results
Authors:
Alisha Dihyan Ramaniya Hartadi
Ananda Tasya Eka Syafitri
Muhammad Rayhansyah Jasin
Naransuvd Bazarsad
Rachel Emmanuella Marlinang
Sharif Md Meraj
Editor: Moongvicha Chanika
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