Since the Internet firmly entered students’ life, Wi-Fi spots have been crucial on all campuses, and American River College is making sure it isn’t left behind. Back in 2007, the first Wi-Fi spots appeared outdoors on various quads and places used for student gatherings. Then, they gradually emerged in different places at ARC, and, nowadays, a student can connect to the Internet in most colleges.

Although the Internet can be accessed in many places, not all of them provide good service. Students are complaining that sometimes they had to give up their attempts to catch the Internet in certain spots. As a result, they had to either move to another place or leave the idea about getting into the network with their laptops.

Since the college’s network is being consolidated, there is a hope that ARC will not have such a problem anymore. Instead of different networks like Hotspot, Public, Admin, etc., ARC has switched to one network, named LRCCD. Linda Jurgens, IT & IMS Supervisor, said the main differences from the previous set of networks is that the new network has one name, and access to it is the same login used for the LRCCD system.

There are two kinds of network – LRCCD is for primary use, which is a streamline of connections for different types of devices. The other is called ARC_Instruct, which is for use in classrooms.

“It makes the system more secure and consistent because you login in with your normal LRCCD account,” Jurgens said.

The Wireless network consolidation has already started on April 5 in the LRC, and it begins its activity in the Student Services on April 12, and it is planned to cover the rest of the campus by May 31. That means the new Internet system will be available in full at the start of the summer semester.

“Consolidating will make Wi-Fi usage easier. Right now the different networks are doing different things. We decided to make it easier. No more guessing,” said Jurgens.