Mini rant: how can a modern university not have reliable internet?

"E. Julius" (soonerfrommi)
03/31/2015 at 06:48 • Filed to: Rant

I'm currently studying abroad at a university in Paris. For some completely ridiculous reason, this school has stupidly unreliable internet that doesn't even cover the one building that houses the school. I understand that public universities in Europe won't have the same amenities that American student (loans) pay through the nose for, but not having internet access is inexcusable.

I've had countiess classes delayed by professors and students being unable to retrieve presentations from the cloud or being unable to access class resources. Doing research is severely hobbled, and if you've got a break between classes you're pretty much screwed unless you use mobile data (what I'm doing now). I've been here for half a year, this is a not a new problem. We are not in Libya or Antarctica, and it's not 2001. A good university in a global city in one of the richest countries in the world should have some fucking phenomenal internet.

DISCUSSION (21)

Tinfoil Hat in a thunderstorm, now with added diecast > E. Julius
03/31/2015 at 06:55

Yeah it is crap whe

Tinfoil Hat in a thunderstorm, now with added diecast > E. Julius
03/31/2015 at 06:55

n technology fuc

pip bip - choose Corrour > E. Julius
03/31/2015 at 06:55

i'm guessing it's run by old people who don't understand the internet , or they don't want to spend the money on something they can't see/feel/hold/drink.

Tinfoil Hat in a thunderstorm, now with added diecast > E. Julius
03/31/2015 at 06:56

ks up.

E. Julius > pip bip - choose Corrour
03/31/2015 at 06:58

Something like that. It's absurd. I'm probably a bit spoiled by all the new buildings/renovations/technologies that ridiculous American university fees buy, but this school just has absolutely crap facilities. The professors are good, the building is just absolute shit.

E. Julius > Tinfoil Hat in a thunderstorm, now with added diecast
03/31/2015 at 06:59

I just found a "Powered by Kinja" plaque outside the university President's office.

Bad Idea Hat > E. Julius
03/31/2015 at 07:07

I think it's time to channel 1968.

E. Julius > Bad Idea Hat
03/31/2015 at 07:11

Ironically my school was founded in the aftermath of 1968. Clearly they've lost the message since then.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > E. Julius
03/31/2015 at 07:14

Has the internet gone on strike? You are in France after all.

Bad Idea Hat > E. Julius
03/31/2015 at 07:15

Bahahahaha oh god no.

The next revolution will have elements of dissatisfied internet users rioting against poor internet.

E. Julius > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
03/31/2015 at 07:16

"The internet is usually on strike" is literally a sentence in one of my syllabi.

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > E. Julius
03/31/2015 at 08:13

Apparently, I heard from my classmate that any research that you conduct through the university's network automatically becomes property of the university/college.

E. Julius > TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut
03/31/2015 at 08:17

Really? I've never heard of anything like that, so maybe it's something that varies between countries. That being said I'm not exactly very knowledgeable about those kinds of laws or whatever.

I'm also not really conducting any groundbreaking research or anything, just trying to find some damn youtube videos to put in a presentation for a marketing class haha.

Tripper > E. Julius
03/31/2015 at 08:31

You may want to consider a VPN service, if you travel often. Not only does it keep you "safe" on public networks, but you are often able to navigate around internal network devices. For instance, most hotel wi-fi is between 2-10 mbps, when I connect through my VPN (on that same hotel wifi) I get 25-50 mpbs and I'm able to stream netflix etc... If the connection where you are is just that shitty then this won't help, but it's still worth looking into. I only pay $6/month for it.

E. Julius > Tripper
03/31/2015 at 08:37

I have a VPN, which is definitely handy in the occasions you describe. The problem here is not any sort of security or anything like that they have, it's literally a barely functioning network. Wifi signal is spotty at best, and when you can actually nail down a working connection to the local network the connection to the wider net is either nonexistent or barely functioning.

Cé hé sin > E. Julius
03/31/2015 at 09:13

Pah, you're in Paris. You can sit in a bar drinking a never ending petit café and discussing existentialism with earnest, scarf wearing types each of whom carries some deeply philosophical tome. When that gets boring you can just start une manif . That's what Parisian university life is all about.

Who needs internet?

E. Julius > Cé hé sin
03/31/2015 at 09:25

People who need to finish assignments haha. Besides, I'm more of a thé guy myself ; )

MrDakka > E. Julius
03/31/2015 at 12:49

'MURICA FUCK YEAH

Is it an infrastructure problem? You mentioned that the WiFi signal is spotty; is that at the hotspot as well? What about Ethernet connections?

E. Julius > MrDakka
03/31/2015 at 12:51

Everything. I honestly think they haven't got their shit sorted out with their ISP or whatever. The hardwired computers are marginally better, but they have it configured so that it doesn't automatically assign IP addresses so I can't use my own laptop, which I'd prefer. Even in the library the wifi signal is strong but you can't load any webpages.

MrDakka > E. Julius
03/31/2015 at 14:08

How big is your comp sci department?

E. Julius > MrDakka
03/31/2015 at 14:10

No idea. Don't know much about the school to be honest. I don't like it very much and I'll be going back to my home school in the US in less than two months.