Despite challenges, Sacramento State is moving toward becoming a completely wireless campus.

Sac State’s current SacLink wireless connection encompasses approximately 160 points on campus, and by the end of this semester the university will increase that number to 240, said Spencer Freund, associate vice president of Academic Affairs for the telecommunication department.

The increase will create an equal strength of Internet connection throughout the campus, and Freund said he hopes this will eliminate failed Internet connections some students may experience while on campus. He added that connections are dropped because the system is constantly shared with everyone using the Wireless Fidelity connection.

“It’s like being in traffic,” Freund said. “When space is available, people want to take up that space.”

Freund said the biggest Wi-Fi hot spots include the University Union, the Library and Mendocino Hall. These facilities experience a high concentration of Internet use every day, with user numbers fluctuating from zero to triple digits at any given moment, he said. These fluctuations account for the reason the system is getting an upgrade.

This year, Sac State’s residence halls implemented wireless connection. Previously, residents could only go on the Internet through Ethernet cables in their rooms. Freund said even with the implementation in the dorms, students should know that the wireless system is still shared.

The implementation of becoming wireless has hit a few roadblocks.

Places like the biology department, located near Santa Clara Hall, are more difficult to integrate because of the facility’s outdated construction material, Freund said. Those older buildings are built from concrete, brick and steel, making the structures very difficult to penetrate for a wireless connection.

Funds have also been an obstacle in this project.

“Only so much money can be given,” Freund said. “And there’s only so much we can do at one time.”

Student opinions on the matter differ.

“All I have to do is turn on my computer,” said Ashley Martello, a junior family and consumer science major. “Everything connects.”

Freshman psychology major Andrew Boatright’s opinion isn’t as optimistic.

“It’ll be on and then it drops all of a sudden,” Boatright said. “It makes it hard to keep up with my MySpace.”

When sophomore business major Alfredo Castillo first came to Sac State, he was satisfied with the system. He said he liked the fact that he could get Wi-Fi anywhere.

Since then he stopped caring.

“I use it mainly for homework,” Castillo said. “But if they upgraded, that would be a lot better.”

Another upgrade on the horizon for wireless connectivity is the arrival of Sacramento’s metropolitan area wireless system.

This new system could eliminate outdated Internet systems and consolidate all Wi-Fi systems into one entity.

Wireless Sacramento is spearheading this project, known as the Wireless Sacramento Regional Project, and plans are still in the implementation phase.

This plan includes providing basic Internet service for free. An upgraded service would be available for a fee for better download rates.

Wireless Sacramento hopes to start development on the plan as early as next year. For more information about this, visit www.wisac.org

Freund said the future of Sac State’s wireless system could have students walking and talking with someone online while on campus. As technology progresses, the campus will see this progress firsthand.

“We want students to be able to do anything over the Internet,” said Freund.

Josh Staab can be reached at [email protected]