Walking around campus, there were some obvious places where I assumed the internet was coming from, but there still seemed to be a lot that I was unable to discover. I first started in Commons where I walked from floor to floor looking for potential sources, but I only came across the same white square routers labeled with the word “aruba” on the ceiling of most of the rooms I entered. I came across a closet labeled “electrical/data closet” but as expected it was locked, so my discovery of that ended there despite being curious what would present itself behind the door. My next stop was the library in which I didn’t have much more success except finding the same white square routers labeled “aruba” and finding another locked electrical/data closet. I did however come across the many wires that I assume to be running the internet on the fourth floor. The wires run within the ceiling which I assume to be the case on all the floors of the library, however it was only on the fourth floor that I was able to see them clearly.
Besides the physical routers providing internet to campus, I found it interesting to track my wifi experiences throughout campus. In all of the academic buildings, I have never had difficulty connecting to the internet. However, as you walk away from the buildings toward the bottom of the colonnade or entering the parking deck, the internet drops out. I assume this is just because I am getting physically further away from the main sources. There have also been very few times over my four years at W&L where the internet has crashed, however when it did there was major stress among the student body, despite its quick restoration. I think we are so incredibly used to having such instant powerful access to the internet, that we don’t think about how it could possibly crash. I did try to find the main data centers and assumed there would be one in the library but I was unsuccessful in my findings. What I did find is that the internet supply seemed to be in closets and behind locked doors which I suppose is for good reason. Knowing how important the internet is to an institution like W&L, I can only imagine how much is done to protect this network and ensure its best success.
