The Anderson School of Management will become the latest segment
of UCLA to surf the World Wide Web outside the confines of
buildings.
After Feb. 2, students will be able to access the Internet while
eating in the Marion Anderson Courtyard using a laptop computer
equipped with a wireless card.
The installation of wireless Internet access at Anderson was a
natural step, said Jason Frand, associate dean of computing
services at Anderson.
“Wireless is an inevitable technology that will eventually
be everywhere,” Frand said.
Other universities, such as Johns Hopkins University, have
already established a campus-wide wireless network; UC Berkeley and
the University of Southern California have networks covering most
of their campuses. Some schools list the feature on brochures they
send to recruit potential students.
UCLA’s effort to do the same ““ motivated partially
by the desire to remain competitive with these schools ““ hit
a roadblock when money for installation and maintenance at a
campus-wide level was not available, said Eddie Urenda, manager of
the Bruin OnLine help desk.
Now the effort to provide wireless access all over campus is
decentralized ““ instead of potentially paying for wireless
access for the whole school, Campus Technology Services requested
individual departments configure their departmental wireless
Internet access using the main campus standards, Urenda said.
Students could then use the same procedure to log onto the web
anywhere on campus, rather than memorizing a number of different
login procedures for different areas on campus.
Wireless access was first installed on campus in November
2001.
Since then, wireless routers have been added to a limited number
of areas on campus, including the first floor of Ackerman Union and
the Northern Lights coffeehouse.
Several students listed the limited coverage area as the primary
reason they do not go wireless.
Peter Liu, a fifth-year sociology student, said the connection
was not always reliable.
“It cuts in and out depending on where you are,” he
said.
More than 2,600 distinct users have logged on one or more times
since wireless access was first implemented on campus, Urenda
said.
One student said wireless Internet on campus is not
necessary.
“I don’t see the need for it, for me,” said
Selina Zhong, a second-year business economics student. “If I
want to use the Internet, I go to the library and use it
there.”
Most people with a laptop computer equipped with a wireless
card can access the BOL homepage when they are within coverage
areas. The BOL site, www.bol.ucla.edu, contains directions to
access other Web sites.