Internet Problems and Solutions




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  • 2013-02-10 14:39:27
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AUBG students are increasingly dissatisfied with the low quality of AUBG's Internet services. On Friday, Feb. 8, The Provost of AUBG, Steven Sullivan, and Latchezar Filtchev, Director of the Office of Communications and Computing (OCC), commented for AUBG Daily on the existing problems with the network and on possible solutions. Sullivan requested the assessment of the Internet problems during Fall 2012 in response to the number of student complaints. After evaluating the current IT infrastructure at AUBG, OCC concluded that $1,000,000 will be needed to fix the problems with AUBG's network.  Whether these funds will actually be allocated to OCC is yet to be decided. [caption id="attachment_11288" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Steven Sullivan, the Provost of AUBG"]Steven Sullivan, the Provost of AUBG[/caption] If a decision is taken to give the money to OCC, there are two options. The first one is to feed the funds into AUBG's budget. “Maybe this money will not be charged to students right away because this is an investment that will pay benefits for several years,” Sullivan said. The second option is to look for a donor. “This is something that the President is ultimately to decide because when we approach a major donor we have to prepare the right ask,” the Provost explained. According to Tim Koroteev, President of the Student Government, Members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) stated that “the amount suggested by OCC is too high, and that there should be cheaper options, such as outsourcing IT services." Lydia Krise, Dean of Faculty, said that outside consultants will evaluate the current state of AUBG's IT infrastructure. “I still have no final confirmation on this. Any consultant is welcome,” stated Filtchev. The increased usage of wireless devices and the size of AUBG's wireless network system cause the crashes.  “AUBG IT infrastructure and Internet connection serves approximately 3000 devices. It has limits and at peak time we reach them. Unlike other ISP, AUBG's peak time is at night - especially between 21:00 and 3:00 after midnight. As a result response time for any action is long and this disappoints our customers,” Filtchev explained. According to Filchev, full renovation of AUBG network infrastructure - wireless and wired - is needed to solve the problem. Sullivan explained in details the two main issues that need to be resolved in order to overcome the slow Internet. “There are two bottlenecks. The first one is the core network equipment that is located in OCC. It is getting close to 9 years old. It provides 1 megabyte per second but with the explosion of wireless devices this is not sufficient anymore.” The Provost explained that if students start to use even more wireless devices, AUBG will soon have to invest in a new core equipment that transmits 10 megabytes per second. The second main problem is the fact that the wireless transmitters’ maximum speed is limited. “Replacing only the core equipment is not enough. The maximum speed of the transmitters will then become the critical bottleneck,” said Sullivan. The solution is to rip all wireless transmitters and replace them with new, more expensive ones that can reach a higher maximum speed. However, these faster transmitters have a limited broadcast range. Thus, more of them will be needed for the same coverage, the Provost explained. ”I think it is essential that the Internet connections are improved. I have problems from time to time but many of the students have constant problems.  It is really hard to study if you need Internet and it is slow or simply not working. The wireless is even worse, if you want to study in a lobby you need to wait at least 10 minutes to open a page,” Daniela Manova, a second-year student said. “I cannot comment on whether these 1,000,000 are appropriate. If this is the correct amount and they come from sponsors, it is ok. But I don’t think students’ tuition should be increased," she added. According to Alexandar Alexandrov, Vice President for Finance and Administration, the first meeting of the Budget and Planning Committee will be held on Feb.28, 2013. There, all issues connected to AUBG's IT infrastructure will be discussed.