The Computer Services Unit (CSU) of the University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu is studying to improve the Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) services of the university.

CSU head Prof. Jason Nieva and Information Systems Analyst Gertrudes Carcallas are studying the drafting the proposal to improve the WiFi services in UP Cebu to answer to some of the students’ complaints regarding the services.

Each semester, the administration collects P260 from every student for Internet usage. All undergraduate students pay the same amount except those who are categorized in Bracket E of the Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP).

The Internet fee covers the use of the Teaching and Learning Resource Center (TLRC) and the WiFi service.  To access the WiFi in school, one must have an account. To get an account, students may apply at the CSU.

The WiFi service at UP Cebu was launched in the second semester of 2007. It was only in 2008 that it became stable.

The WiFi service in school uses Antamedia Hotspot, a third party in-house server bought abroad. A hotspot is the area scope of the wifi connection which is usually within about 50-100 feet. Antamedia HotSpot is a commercial software that prompts the student to enter a valid username and password upon connecting to the network to get Internet access. It does not have to be installed in each student’s device. Instead, it uses portal technology to show login page in the student’s browser. It keeps track of each account. The software includes billing, management, statistics, reporting and other features. 

Some students have expressed discontentment with the WiFi service at UP Cebu. 

“The WiFi’s speed is snail-like. Not so helpful at all times because it is not always available,” said Jason Gujilde, a third year BS Biology student. 

For Michelle Reyes, a fourth year BS Mathematics student, her main disappointment is the limited download speed of the WiFi service. She said that the upload and the download speeds are very slow and frustrating. 

“The (wifi) registration took a long time, around one week. In our case, we applied in December but we received our accounts in January,” Michelle explained regarding the registration process. 

This is also the main concern of Kevin Sato, a second year BS Biology student. According to him, “The acquisition of our accounts should be early and fast. It would be better if by the enrollment period, they could already give us our passwords.” 

He also added that it is better if the students can use their accounts on more than one device. 

“I wasn’t very satisfied with the convenience of the WiFi service, but nevertheless, I commend its tolerable speed if ever you can connect seamlessly,” he also said.       

According to Nieva, the officer-in-charge of the CSU, they are now studying proposals to improve the Wifi service in the campus. For one, they are thinking that instead of going to the CSU to get an account, students may course their request through their respective cluster clerks. 

In the current system, one student is entitled to an account to be used in one device only. The CSU is now considering allowing students to register multiple devices or get multiple accounts. However, this proposal, if implemented, entails an additional fee. 

Another idea that the CSU is studying is the possibility of selling “refillers” for those who exceed the bandwidth (the measure of available or consumed data communication resources). A “refiller” is similar to that of a prepaid card load wherein you have to pay to get more data for consumption.       

In the current system, according to Nieva, officials and administrators have unlimited bandwidth; the faculty has a higher bandwidth than the students, and the staff have a lower bandwidth than the students. The exact differences were not disclosed. 

According to Nieva, the proposals are still at the CSU level. They are still studying and improving the proposals as their previous proposals were not approved by the administration.

(Contributed by Liezyl Anne Gomez and Jose Santino Bunachita, UP Cebu Masscomm Students)