University falls off cutting edge of wireless connection technology

The numbers are in for this year's Most Unwired College Campuses and it seems IU has been given the plug.\nThe survey done by the Intel Corp. ranked IU as the No. 1 unwired college in the nation last year, but on this year's list IU was nowhere to be found. \n2005's reign belongs to Ball State University, which has recently updated its wireless services to include every area of campus -- a feat that IU Vice President of Telecommunications Mark Bruhn said would be almost impossible for a school of IU's size. \n"We've been at 100 percent wireless coverage of our IUB academic and administrative buildings since early 2004, and we're approaching 90 percent coverage of the outside areas that matter," he said. "We can't and won't ever cover the entirety of our campus -- some 3,000 plus acres -- with wireless, which Ball State and smaller schools would likely be able to do."\nThe Intel survey, which included approximately 1,000 schools nationwide ranks its top 50 results according to wireless (or WiFi) coverage, and also included the number of undergraduate students enrolled and the computer-to-student ratio. \n"We have nearly 3,000 student computer seats at IUB, in campus and residence hall technology centers and in other associated labs. With a total of 37,000 students on campus, of course that ratio is fairly low," Bruhn said. "But what Intel likely hasn't taken into account is that we encourage students to own their own computers, and our recent survey shows that 97 percent of IUB students do, and nearly 50 percent of those are laptops with wireless capabilities." \nComparing the numbers, IU has some 3,000 acres -- Ball State has 600 and has 625 wireless access points on campus. \n"We have installed almost 1,000 wireless access points on the IUB campus (and nearly 600 on the IUPUI campus). We can't improve much in coverage," Bruhn said. "Ball State University, which is No. 1 on this year's most unwired list, -- and I'm not at all denigrating their great work -- does not have to install and manage a wireless network that size."\nIn fact, the top three universities named on the survey, which include Ball State University, Western Michigan University and the University of Akron, all have campuses of 600 or less acres -- Western Michigan with 550 and the University of Akron with only 218. \nWithin previous years, IU has been named the nation's hottest wireless school by Newsweek and was also named Intel's 2004 No. 1 most unwired college, but with small schools taking a jump on technology, schools revered in the technology area are often left off surveys not accounting for size. \n"Once most schools can claim nearly 100 percent wireless coverage, the student-to-computer ratio will likely leave larger schools off the list," Bruhn said. \nSo why don't the bigger schools work to implement 100 percent wireless coverage as well? \n"It would just not be cost effective to install wireless access to every part of our campus," said Larry MacIntyre, director of media relations at IU. "A lot of our east campus is located east of the bypass, a location including IU's golf course."\nThough all academic and administrative buildings are 100 percent wireless, many residence halls and outside areas are uncovered. \nThere really isn't a need for wireless in the residence halls, MacIntyre said. He said there are 2,708 computing places around campus, and 97 percent of IU students bring their own computers for personal use.\nWith a reputation for excellence in the aspect of wireless connectivity, MacIntyre said Intel's survey is just one of those things the University "will take with a grain of salt." \n"We were pleased they recognized us on their list in the previous year -- but now just about every school is 100 percent wireless -- we are never going to get there if you base a survey on ratios compared to computers and the number of students or computers and the number of acres," he said. "Either way you look at we will are always going to lose"