The Hindu : Front Page : Anna University all set to become 100 per cent wi-fi enabled campus

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Sunday, Apr 12, 2009
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Anna University all set to become 100 per cent wi-fi enabled campus

Priscilla Jebaraj

— Photo: S. S. Kumar

STAYING CONNECTED: Students at the wi-fi hotspot on the Anna University campus in Chennai on Saturday.

CHENNAI: Prabagaran often spends long evenings camped out on the portico of the Science and Humanities building on the Anna University campus, using the wi-fi hotspot to work on projects or seminars. When the Computer Science Engineering student returns for his final year in July, he will be able to access the internet with his laptop anywhere on the grounds.

Anna University will become a 100 per cent wi-fi campus over the next two months. In a project with a projected investment of Rs.40 lakh to 50 lakh, classrooms, hostels and grounds of the College of Engineering, Guindy, Alagappa College of Technology, Madras Institute of Technology and School of Architecture and Planning will be connected to the university network.

“This will come in handy with all the work we have to do,” says Prabagaran.First year students say during their orientation programme, they were told that a fully wi-fi campus was among the university’s attractions. However, reality proved otherwise, with only classrooms and areas right next to the Science and Humanities building having a sufficiently strong signal to browse the Net. That is all set to change, with the university promising a strong connection in hostel rooms as well.

“It gets quite crowded here,” said Anup Jacob, a first year B.E Manufacturing Engineering student also browsing the net in the Science and Humanities hall. “Until 11 pm, the signal is hopeless everywhere else,” says Divya Keerthika, a first year B.E Electronics and Communication Engineering student.

“So far, we have only had about 25 to 30 per cent of the campus connected,” says Anna University Vice-Chancellor P. Mannar Jawahar. “We are a world-renowned university, so we felt we must stay up to date with all the latest developments and offer all such facilities.”

He encourages students to make good use of the new digital campus, even bringing their laptops to take notes in class. .

V. Rhymend Uthariaraj, director of the Ramanujam Computing Centre, says students will need to register their laptops with the Centre before they can access the network freely. “We have to be very careful about security.”

With a 26 MBPS capacity, the university network should be geared to handle unlimited usage by the students.

However, he expects to provide a full load in the hostel only during 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.

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