Starting in fall 2009, Lakeland’s wireless internet service will cover all residence halls.

Freshman history major and resident of Krueger Hall Stephani Rubsam said in reference to Krueger’s current wireless incapability, “It would be nice to have because then you wouldn’t have to be tied to your desk by your Ethernet cord.”

The service, Lakeland WLAN, presently covers the south side residence halls on the south side of campus, which are South Hall, the apartments, Grosshuesch Hall, and Muehlmeier Hall. The rest of campus will have access to wireless Internet next year.

“Wireless is going to be a lot more convenient than having to deal with cords laying all over the place,” freshman biochemistry major and Krueger resident Ashley Doran said.

“In theory, you can walk around campus with your laptop and stay connected to the Internet,” Lakeland Director of Information Technology Operations Larry Marcus said.

Once the campus-wide wireless service is in place, IT will conduct a survey aimed at eliminating any dead spots on campus.

“After the survey, we’ll be able to tell where the dead spots are,” said Marcus. “For example, if you’re sitting by the pond you will be able to get wireless access, but [maybe you] can’t get access in front of Old Main. With this information, we can rearrange the access points so people on the steps of Old Main can get access.”

Because of the wireless upgrade, students will be asked to leave their wireless routers at home this fall. “If somebody plugs in their router incorrectly, Lakeland’s entire wireless system could be messed up,” said Marcus.