Roblin Centre Wireless Network Crashes during Busiest Time of Year

By Alexis Brandt

Students at Red River College often have to use ethernet cables to connect their wireless devices to the internet. /ALEXIS BRANDT

The fall term at Red River College is coming to an end, which means students are stressed, final projects are due and exams are only days away.  These circumstances make the spotty RRCWireless network connection at the Roblin Centre campus troubling for some.

On Nov. 20, RRC experienced an equipment failure, causing issues for anyone trying to connect to the RRCWireless network. As a result, staff and students weren’t able to use their login credentials to access the network. 

Applied Accounting student Patrick Wilson, 25,  said the problem is annoying because he can’t use his laptop for basic things.

“I have to use up the data on my phone to get onto the internet,” he said.

Business Administration student Dylan Thompson, 19, couldn’t access his speech last week when he had to do a presentation. Thompson wrote out his entire presentation on an online application that requires internet access.

“I didn’t have my speech memorized or anything,” Thompson said. “I had to make an entirely new presentation.”

Thompson said the internet issues also kept him from accessing PowerPoint slides for his macroeconomics class and prevented him from getting into LEARN, the online portal where students can access course material, to complete a quiz.

Commerce Industry Sales and Marketing student Liam Tkach, 21, said he notices dead spots around the campus. Specifically, in classrooms P312 and W315.

“It’s annoying to have to deal with it when I have assignments and papers that need to be submitted on LEARN,” said Tkach.

Liam Tkach, 21, said campus “dead spots” are affecting him and his class. /ALEXIS BRANDT

The manager of RRC Network and Communications, Brian Acland, sent a mass email to students and staff on behalf of RRC Information Technology Solutions.

The email said that a temporary Wi-Fi network called RRCWIFI-backup is available to staff and students so they can access the network until the issue is resolved.

As for what students can do to ease the stress, an ethernet cable ensures the best possible internet connection.