On the hill by the prairie chicken, second-year engineering students Tyler Enns and Glenda Yee are surfing the net.
“I just thought we were getting [Wi-Fi] from a building,” said Enns, who did not realize the increased wireless coverage is due to three new antennas installed over the summer on the U of C campus.
Wi-Fi coverage is now available on the lawns outside the ICT building, MacEwan Student Centre and Swann Mall, in addition to inside every building on campus.
“It’s an added service we can provide for students,” said network services manager Doug Doran. “We recognize that a lot of students use these locations for study purposes when the weather’s nice. You’ll only see usage from students sitting out there probably May through early October, but there are people who transit that area all year round.”
The extended wireless network equipment cost around $6,300 and is inspired by the increased popularity of handheld mobile devices with wireless capabilities.
“The Micro Store, over the summer, sold about 750 iPhones,” said Doran. “Each one of those devices comes with Wi-Fi and those are extremely mobile devices.”
At peak usage times, there are around 6,000 people on the AirUC Wi-Fi network.
In the future, AirUC may extend to cover the lawn between the residence buildings, as well as the space near the university daycare between the Bio Science building and University LRT station.
A 2008 survey conducted by the Princeton Review stated that of the top 20 high-tech U.S. college campuses, at least half the schools have 75 per cent or better coverage outdoors.
“It’s nice to be in that sort of category,” said Doran.