Let's go in the way-back machine and experience dial-up internet1 on our campuses, shall we? What? No one wants to go back to 1999 and wait for our college roommate to get off the phone so we can check our email? As funny (or awful) as this sounds to our higher education, tech-savvy ears in 2018, we need to acknowledge that poor-quality networks for students are analogous to higher education institutions' going back to dial-up. Students expect rapid and universal campus networks. The good news is that this year more than three-quarters of students (77% overall) across all demographics2 reported either good or excellent overall technology experiences. However, differences were noted across institution types. MA private and DR private institutions had significantly higher percentages of students who rated their technology experiences as poor/fair than other institution types.3 Students' overall technology experiences continue to be significantly and positively associated with their experiences of Wi-Fi connectivity (see figure 3). Specifically, students' ease of Wi-Fi login and assessments of Wi-Fi connectivity in dorms/housing, campus libraries, and classroom/instructional spaces were associated with students' overall technology experiences. Reliability of Wi-Fi access in outdoor spaces was a weaker predictor of overall technology experiences.

Although students have consistently rated Wi-Fi reliability as good or excellent in areas you would expect (e.g., libraries or classrooms), room for improvement remains in Wi-Fi network access in dormitories/student housing and outdoors.4 Students who offered open-ended responses last year regarding their concerns with their institution's Wi-Fi networks focused primarily on poor network quality in dorms/housing and outdoors.5 In 2017, students also reported pain points with Wi-Fi login: Multiple daily and monthly logins were barriers to using campus Wi-Fi.6 Although fewer students rated ease of login negatively, it is still associated with overall technology experiences. IT departments should examine their users' login experiences when fielding calls of general concerns with Wi-Fi to ensure a seamless network login experience across campus throughout the school year.

If IT departments seek to increase students' positive assessments of technology and address general complaints of "poor Wi-Fi," then a likely starting point would be assessing students' experiences with ease of login and connectivity in dormitories and outdoor spaces. Poor experiences in dorms may be the result of students' attempting to log on to the campus network with IoT (internet of things) devices. Most of these devices come from the consumer sector and are built with the home wireless router in mind rather than a complex institutional Wi-Fi network. The implementation of more secure campus networks may create additional steps to logging on or may not be compatible with all devices, so student assessments of Wi-Fi connectivity or login issues may also be the result of increasing network security. This suggests the weighing of security concerns with open, easily accessible Wi-Fi is a challenging balancing act for institutions. Private institutions should also be aware their students have slightly less-positive overall technology experiences than students at other types of institutions. Since experiences of Wi-Fi are correlated with overall technology experiences, connectivity needs to be a priority for these institutions.

Wi-Fi connectivity investments should be part of an IT department's institution-wide strategy that addresses students' needs and experiences.7 Students' overall experiences at their institution, not just the classroom experience or completion rates, are now part of ensuring student success.8 Consequently, network quality may be a means for students to assess a higher education institution's investments in student experiences.9 Without quality networks, campus-wide technology initiatives may be impacted. For example, colleges moving course materials from print textbooks to digital open-educational resources (OER) will likely need upgraded networks to meet the demands of increased student traffic to access and engage with materials. One institution has recently piloted voice command technology on campuses to improve and simplify student experiences.10 This technology can help students (and faculty) obtain targeted information without having to sit at a computer, and it can draw on multiple data sources to provide students with up-to-date information.11 Without strong networks in dorms, however, these types of innovations will not get off the ground, or the user experience will be mired in pain points.

Providing high-quality, pain-free networks responds to students' needs as consumers of technology. Like all people, students spend a significant portion of their time connecting through their devices—conducting business, accessing academic resources, completing tasks, communicating with family and friends, streaming content, listening to music, or gaming. These activities reflect how people engage with technology; students should be considered a critical part of this consumer group, not an exception. And perhaps most importantly, any initiatives to incorporate more educational technology will be stalled or poorly implemented if appropriate network infrastructure is not in place. We certainly wouldn't want colleges and universities to go back to using dial-up, and for the current generation of college students, poor campus network performance is equally as tortuous.