ITS plans for SwatNet improvements

SwatNet, the college’s wireless internet network, currently serves over 2,000 end devices, ranging from gaming systems and laptops to the exercise equipment in the Matchbox. According to Joel Cooper, chief information technology officer, the college has 578 wireless access points, 273 of which are in residence halls, providing wireless Internet access throughout campus.

According to Cooper, with such high usage across campus, the college relies heavily upon SwatNet and allocates resources to improve the network.

“SwatNet is always a work in progress…we budget annually to maintain and upgrade the network,” Cooper said in an email. “If the network isn’t robust and reliable, nothing that uses it will be either, so it’s critical for us to maintain and enhance it.”

Among these enhancements, Cooper says that Information Technology Services (ITS) has been at work improving network speed.

“Two years ago we had a 400 megabit/second connection to the Internet. Last year we increased that to 800 megabits/second. This summer Swarthmore became part of Internet2, a part of the Internet that supports US higher education, and now we have an additional 1 gigabit/second connection to Internet2,” he said.

Additionally, Cooper explained that ITS is planning a campus-wide overhaul of the wireless access points. He stated that currently, each wireless access point provides speeds up to 300 megabits/second. The new access points will provide speeds of up to 900 megabits/second, triple the speed of the current access points.

While ITS has improved and has plans for continued improvements to the network, many students have expressed dissatisfaction with SwatNet.

“SwatNet is incredibly frustrating. It loads pages slowly, making research and online homework difficult,” said Istvan Cselotoi ’18. “It also constantly disconnects me from the network, which can happen multiple times in just a few minutes.”

Nikhil Chopra ’18, who lives in David Kemp Hall, has had similar issues, but said that on the whole, he was satisfied.

“Sometimes it is really slow and won’t load [web pages], and this can be a problem when doing online homework,” he said.

Cooper said that many SwatNet users may experience connection issues because of the wide variety of devices and software systems brought to campus by individuals.

“BYOD (bring your own device) is a big challenge — different generations of different brands of devices running different versions of operating systems running various versions of antivirus software (or none and infected with malware) — all make for a much more complex network,” he said. “New versions of operating systems sometimes contain bugs affecting wireless connectivity that subsequent updates fix.”

Haverford, too, experiences these difficulties, says Chris Franz, a network engineer at Haverford.

“Amount of devices and signal propagation are the main concern here. Another challenge is the amount of new devices and features that are being introduced to the market, Chromecast, fireTV… The list goes on and on,” Franz said.

He also explained that disconnecting issues are the primary source of complaints at Haverford. “Depending on where users are located, and type of device they are using, we do get complaints,” he said. “Most of the complaints are due to signal loss and we do our best to rectify these immediately.”

Steve Fabiani, Haverford’s interim co-chief information officer and associate chief information officer, also said that his department constantly faces challenges with changing software, new devices, and more, but that upgrading before this becomes a problem helps improve satisfaction.

Fabiani added that Haverford ITS considers security precautions, such as encryption and antivirus software, worth the hassle despite the inconvenience.

“This level of security can sometimes make it a little more challenging for end users — especially on older Windows and Android devices — but the tradeoff to protect privacy is well worth it in our view,” he explained.

However, upgrading a wireless network is not cheap.

“Accommodating all of this new demand costs a lot of money. We’re really sensitive to the cost of higher education in general and feel compelled to balance the way we accommodate demands with what is a very real cost burden,” he said. “Striking this balance is always a challenge for every college”.