D uring the winter break, Green Mountain College upgraded the student network bandwidth, allowing the students faster Internet access. The bandwidth was doubled from three megabits to six megabits, and is shared among all campus dorms. “[The network] is working great. The initial bandwidth test showed that, when nobody was here, we had six megs of bandwidth,” said Don Williams, Manager of IT and Network Services.
Provost Bill Throop was frequently reminded of the slow network problem over the Fall 2008 semester, mostly through IT. According to Throop, though the increase in bandwidth was planned in the 2009 budget, it was pushed aside to balance the finances out. “I talked to enough students… that indicated to me that this would enhance the quality of life at Green Mountain College,” Throop noted.
One of the things that sped up the process of getting the Internet upgraded on campus was a petition organized by student Laura Huley. After a conversation with Williams and student Aaron Ashton, Williams advised Huley that it would be useful to show that the students were supporting the Internet initiative. “The next day, I typed up a basic petition and walked around asking for signatures,” Huley wrote in an e-mail correspondence.
The company that was contracted to do the circuit installations on the network was Kaleidoscope in cooperation with IT Services. The job was done over the winter break and in a record time. The original plan was to finish the work in 60 days, but the school pushed it to be done before the beginning of the semester. “They [the company] worked as hard as they could with us, and Don Williams worked very hard to do what we needed to do on our end, and we were able to get it done,” said Throop.
Apart from doubling the bandwidth from three megabits to six megabits, the improvements on the network also included increasing the IP range, which would allow better hosting capabilities. “It’s like enhancing your Internet real estate,” said Paul Millette, Director of Library, IT, and Learning Support Services at GMC. Both Millette and Williams declined to comment how much the upgrade cost, but Bill Throop noted that it was “not over $10,000.”
Students seem pleased with the improved connection, as live video/audio streaming became more accessible. “My Internet is faster than before, I believe. Anything is better than how it was before,” said Huley.
