Author: Sam Slesinger
On Thursday, Jan. 22 the Internet Technology Services department (ITS) announced the restoration of Oxy’s internet connection. In a campus-wide email, Chief Technology Officer Todd Grappone said that he was “optimistic” the new, upgraded connection would be of immediate benefit to the campus community.
“We recognize that the problems last semester with internet capacity caused inconveniences for many and annoyances for everyone,” Grappone said.
The restoration process was undertaken last semester, when ITS began to receive complaints of slowdowns and access issues on the Oxy network. According to Director of Networking Operations Wesley Tomatsu, the problem stemmed from a variety of factors, including the increased popularity of streaming video websites and WiFi enabled mobile devices.
Tomatsu said that a survey conducted by the Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges (CLAC) confirmed the widespread nature of the problem.
“It caught us and other schools by surprise,” Tomatsu said. “The [first-year] class was using the internet in a different way.”
Once ITS determined that the increased traffic was legitimate, it used a packet shaper to prioritize different types of internet use.
“We tried to balance the needs of folks off campus who could not talk to the network, as well as students,” Tomatsu said.
When traffic shaping attempts did not alleviate the problem, ITS ordered a faster connection type, with additional bandwidth headroom for future upgrades. The new connection cost the college twice as much to operate and maintain.
Despite the new connection’s increased networking capacity, ITS has continued to receive complaints from students and faculty.
“It works. It’s just slower than hell,” Evan Poirson (senior) said. “I think it’s the placement of our room.”
According to Tomatsu, the two most common problems are with devices just outside of the wireless coverage, and malware on personal computers.
“There is no quick fix for the wireless network,” Tomatsu said. He said that ITS has been updating the wireless network over the years, but that “money is the limiting factor.”
Other students are content with the upgraded connection. “My internet connection was always better than my friends in other dorms, but it’s running even smoother now,” Eleni Petrow (junior) said.
“You can watch YouTube videos relatively quickly compared to last semester when it would take 10-15 minutes for a video to load,” Eric Martinez (junior) said.
Tomatsu said that students in need of speed should buy an Ethernet cord, which guarantees a more reliable connection. These cords are available for purchase at the Occidental College Bookstore.
On Tuesday, Jan. 22, ITS issued a warning to students who were taking advantage of the faster internet speeds for illegal purposes.
“[We’re] seeing a rise in the number of notices alerting us to the downloading of music, TV shows and movies in violation of copyright laws,” Vice President of Information Resources Pamela McQuesten said in the campus-wide email.”Please remember that it is illegal to download or share copyrighted materials such as music, TV shows, or movies without the permission of the copyright owner,” she said.
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