The internet access in my room at PGH1 is unreliable at best. I am disconnected anywhere between every 5 minutes to every fifteen minutes to every 2 hours. It's very arbitrary, but I'm pretty sure it has to do with lack of bandwidth in this dorm. Let's just say that over New Year's break when 90% of the dorm was empty, I had no problems with access. Also, it seems after midnight, when everyone is presumably downloading their movies and music, I can pretty much assume that I won't be able to get online AT ALL.
I think I already complained earlier in this blog about how the IT helpdesk responded to my first telephone request for connection assistance for my Apple Powerbook G4. Instead of simply telling me that he didn't know, the staffer said,"There is no access for macs in your dorm.*click*" Those three weeks without an internet connection were devastating for me as a researcher. Fortunately over the years, I've learned to never take no for an answer. Wish I was a little faster about it though.
During the downtime, I visited the 8th floor Computer Room and endured the hassle of using a computer that was not my own. The room also did not have a printer. Actually, it did have a printer...that didn't work...and spit out disgusting ink-stained jibberish. I'm not one who can read papers and articles completely online; I prefer hard-copies which I can highlight and organize. I had originally planned to purchase a cheap black-and-white printer for my room, but after seeing how unreliable my internet connection was, abandoned that idea.
After 2 or 3 trips to the Computer Room, my patience was running thin. Not only did I have sign in and out in the ground floor lobby with every use, I also had to enter a 6 digit password into the door to the room to unlock it. Once I got in and turned on the computer, I had to input my CWEM username and password (which I could never remember off the top of my head) before it would startup. Needless to say, I stopped going to the Computer Room.
As I became more familiar with the campus, I discovered that each library had a computer area with 20 or so terminals. There, you can login simply by inserting your CUHK ID card into the keyboard. The libraries have Add-Value Machines which you can use to add money to your card for printing. I've found this to be the best solution for my online research.
This week I will haul my laptop around see what wireless networks are available on campus.
No comments:
Post a Comment