USC Wireless outages lead to frustration


USC Information Technology Services is working to solve a hardware problem that has affected the USC Wireless and USC Wireless Plus networks since Tuesday.

Technicians have confirmed the problem is related to the network’s hardware, but the cause of the issue is still unknown, according to Kevin Durkin, director of communications and marketing for ITS.

“Since we haven’t fully diagnosed the issue, we have no timeline on when it will be fixed,” Durkin said.

Durkin noted that the wired Internet network has been unaffected by the glitch.

Chris Amezcua, a freshman majoring in business administration, said the problems with the Internet have made completing the final assignments of the semester extremely difficult.

“Everyone has papers due and especially research papers, which you need the Internet for,” he said. “It’s crunch time right before finals, so it’s the worst timing possible.”

Since the technical difficulties with the wireless networks began, Amezcua has been using an Ethernet cable to complete his assignments.

According to Robert Hernandez, an assistant professor of professional practice at USC Annenberg, the issues with USC’s wireless networks have disrupted his lesson plans and impacted his students’ final projects.

“We are a digital class. Most of us are very dependent on Wi-Fi. We are starting to code, so technology and, of course, Wi-Fi, is the backbone of this class,” Hernandez said. “When something like this goes down, it really is crippling, not just for my class, but for everyone. You don’t have to be a digital journalism professor like I am to be affected.”

Durkin said ITS plans to send out a notification when the problems with the wireless network are fixed. The ITS website is also being updated as technicians learn more about the issue.

Katherine Sun, a freshman majoring in business administration, said the problems with the Internet have forced her to look for other ways to get online.

“I’m thinking about going to Starbucks off campus to complete my homework,” Sun said. “It’s a very inconvenient time for this. I can’t believe this happened during finals.”

 

Jordyn Holman contributed to this report.

5 replies
    • North University Park
      North University Park says:

      I beg to differ. I have a number of cats and I can assure you no sex of any kind is watched on my computer or goes on at my abode. Keep your filthy thoughts to yourself!

  1. Jeff
    Jeff says:

    Yeah a school which spends millions if not billions on construction and beautification of campus has such a bad internet connection. And its year long. Please ITS, you cant give a timeline. Shut ITS and impeach the President of the university and hire a third party consultant who can easily manage this 1000 times better. USC needs to set it priorities straight!!! enough with construction and athletes… start focusing on the real business.

  2. Stephen
    Stephen says:

    The wireless connection in off-campus apartments (I live at Hillview) is atrocious all year long. My roommate and I often stay late hours on campus just because we know the connection will be terrible at home. Whenever I contact ITS or Housing they say there is no solution. So much for the 21st-century high-tech USC. It’s very frustrating, probably my #1 complaint about USC right now.

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