The Study of Students Perceptions of On-campus ... - Research Bank

andwidth of the WLANs. The distance between laptops and access points
may influence the speed and signal performance of the WLANs. Greater
distance between the laptops and the access points would result in weaker
signal and slower speed.
On the other hand, MC also believed the wireless network card could be
another possible reason for people to feel the WLANs were “very slow” or
“always slow”. Different network cards use different wireless standards such
as 802.11a and 802.11b.
At the end of the interview, MC suggested expanding the wireless coverage,
for example car parks. Nowadays, most students have more powerful
electronic devices. Not only laptops, but also PDAs and mobile phones could
connect to the WLANs too. MC liked to get on the Internet by using her
mobile phone. If her mobile phone could connect to the WLANs anywhere on
campus, she would save money on her mobile fees.
Participant M
Participant M did not have any opinions on enhancing the WLANs. M said he
felt the WLANs were good enough. Some friends of M told him the speed of
the WLANs was quite slow, but M did not agree with them. M believed the
reason he did not have any speed problem was he did not use the WLANs as
much as his friends. M was only doing his research for his assignments when
he connected to the on-campus WLANs in the library. M’s requirement was
lower than for other people. Because his friends always complained of the
speed problem, M suggested maybe the IT department should upgrade the
speed of the WLANs to meet students’ needs.
Participant N
Participant N did not own a laptop to get on the WLANs. N liked to borrow
one from the library. The borrowed laptop could be used for a duration of 30
minutes. N felt 30 minutes was quite short for study purposes. So she
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