ASG project brings WiFi to Lakefill
October 5, 2012
Northwestern has finished installing WiFi service on the Lakefill six months after Associated Student Government pledged $5,000 to fulfill the student-submitted proposal.
"This project not only signifies the work and ideas of countless students, but also represents an opportunity for students to enjoy our shared space more frequently," ASG Vice President Brad Stewart said in a news release.
A router near Regenstein Hall anchors the WiFi signal, which extends about 250 yards from the Lakefill's southern tip to its fire pit. The University is interested in expanding the service farther north, Stewart told The Daily on Thursday.
The Internet speed on the Lakefill is consistent with other areas on campus.
In the spring, ASG set aside funding for wireless internet on the lakeside campus as part of the 5K Initiative. The program asked students how they would like to see ASG spend $5,000 to improve campus life.
More than 700 students voted in an online poll that ultimately selected "WiFi on the Lakefill" as the winning idea.
The successful implementation has prompted ASG leaders to float a 10K Initiative that would double the allocation. A formal proposal is expected to come up Wednesday during the first Senate meeting of the school year.
In January, then-ASG President Austin Young urged students to generate ideas that could benefit their peers, not just themselves.
"There's so many ways for this money to be spent," he said during a Senate meeting. "We want to open it up to the students to come up with and vote on ideas."
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How ASG managed to spend $5,000 on ONE single router is baffling to me. I don't pay to put my nephew through school for this wasteful spending. A simple search on amazon for "outdoor wireless router puts them in ranges from $50 to $220. Why did this cost so much?
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The Northwestern IT system, including wireless routers, is significantly more complex than the one you have at your house. There are serious security issues, in addition to allowing each student to log into their account, rather than one universal login. Thus, each wireless access point (we do not use routers) is very costly.
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Rich Uncle Reply:
October 5th, 2012 at 1:44 pm
Fair enough. Still no where near $5,000 correct? I've seen the WAPs around campus, there's no way they cost that much.
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NU Student Reply:
October 5th, 2012 at 5:26 pm
They are thousands of dollars each, plus labor which is always expensive.
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