Varsity Life (EiM Magazine)

By Marry Farazda & Siti Aisyah
Is the Wi-Fi connection in Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) bothering you lately
especially when you want to get some information from the Internet to do your
assignments? Well, you are not alone! In fact, every semester, there will always be many
students complaining about the same problems all over again. There are certain
procedures and guidelines that the students have to follow before accessing the Internet
in the campus. For instance, students have to key in their matric numbers and passwords
before logging in. After you are logged in, then a notification page appears telling you
that you have to agree with the policy given before you can continue to surf.
Therefore, surfing the Net in the campus can be tedious and arbituous. In fact, the
red tape on several websites such as Youtube and Facebook has made the students’
assignments more difficult to those who live outside the campus . Facebook is their only
means of group discussion. There are also students who are wiling to spend around
RM200-300 a month to subscribe a mobile broadband because they claim that the
connection speed of broadband service is faster than Wi-Fi. In fact, many turned to USB
modem when it comes to downloading their favourite shows.Internet facilities located in
the campus should be utilised to encourage the usage of Internet not only by students
but also the staff within the campus. In addition, more routers should be installed in all
the buildings throughout the campus to provide more Internet access points to the
students.
UNIMAS need to ensure that their campus networks are appropriately resourced.
Furthermore, expenditure for ongoing technical upgrade in campus networks is best
treated as a budget expense on an annual basis. UNIMAS should consider acquiring their
own fibre infrastructure between their Local Area Network(s) and the point(s) of
presence of key service and/or infrastructure providers, if necessary by commissioning its
construction.
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Source: www.pcheplplanet.com