Better Connections

Better Connections

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CAMPUS

TECHNOLOGY

Wireless upgrade attempts to keep pace with rising demand.

When great minds met at Dartmouth in 1956 for the conference that birthed artificial intelligence (AI), they couldn’t have imagined students heading into Dartmouth Hall while staring at smartphones.

The convergence of AI and wireless technology is having a moment, as Dartmouth overhauls its entire wireless network. The $ll-million project began last summer and is slated for completion at the end of 2021, according to Felix Windt, associate director for network services.

For some students and faculty it can’t happen soon enough. Reports of spotty wi-fi on campus have become routine.

Windt is sympathetic, noting that Dartmouth is planning for a shorter lifespan, about five years, for its infrastructure going forward, in recognition of faster changes in technology. “I genuinely think some days if I went to a dorm and said, ‘I’m going to shut down the water,’ versus ‘I’m going to shut down the internet,’ you’d get more tolerance for shutting down the water,” says Windt.

The wireless administration and troubleshooting will be done through a cloud service for the first time, which means the system can use machine learning and AI to identify problems exponentially faster, boosting customer satisfaction. “The term ‘artificial intelligence’ was coined at Dartmouth,” says Windt. “It’s kind of interesting for that to come home to roost.”

The project also involves walking every square foot of campus to map the best placement of access points, which, like in-home routers, transmit radio signals used to connect wirelessly to the internet, says Windt. The campus is going from 3,500 access points to 6,000 because the number of devices used concurrently has exploded, from about 4,000 when Windt started in 2011 to an expected 28,000 this term. His office calculates 3.5 devices per student, because in addition to smartphones and laptops, students use Kindles, gaming consoles, tablets, and more.

Windt says the project is going well, with few reports of connection problems where the upgrades are complete—a short list that includes Thayer, most of Tuck, a couple of academic buildings, and about half of the library complex.

What happens when the five-year lifetime is up? “If you’re looking more than four or five years out,” says Windt, “you’re just soothsaying.”

Lisa Kocian '94