University News
Internet Bandwidth Increased
January 20, 2011
MACOMB, IL – Internet bandwidth has been increased for the second time in less than a month at Western Illinois University.
University Technology (uTech) recently increased the available Internet bandwidth for Western's academic and administrative networks by 47 percent or 40 Mbps (Megabit per second) from 85 Mbps to 125 Mbps to improve the speed of Internet access on Western's academic and administrative systems, according to Joe Rives, vice president for Quad Cities, technology and planning. Rives noted that funding the increase was made possible due to an internal reallocation from University Technology. Last month, Internet bandwidth in the residence halls was increased 47 percent from 115 Mbps (Megabit per second) to 165 Mbps using student fees that are available only for projects that support on-campus housing.
The increases in bandwidth on both networks now totals 290 Mbps of bandwidth
"Traffic on all WIU networks continues to grow, and we will continue with short- and long-term planning for adding more bandwidth," Rives added. "We will need to increase the infrastructure that supports bandwidth as our current infrastructure can support 310 Mbps. We want to put into place an infrastructure that can support three or four times that amount. We also are discussing ways to improve our network wiring and our wireless networks. "
The wireless networks will be replaced with higher levels of bandwidth allocation as the older units support only 11 Mbps, which is divided equally among active users in a designated area, he explained.
"When more people are on the wireless network it does slow down. University Technology is committed to achieving its goals and we will work closely with our campus and external partners to advance the network infrastructure and bandwidth at Western Illinois University," Rives said.
For more information, contact uTech at (309) 298-4500. For additional assistance, contact the uTech Support Center at (309) 298-2704. For uTech updates, visit wiu.edu/university_technology and follow uTech on Twitter at twitter.com/WIU_uTech.
Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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