ResNet Bandwidth Sees Explosive Growth

A new study from ACUTA and ACUHO-I has found that "robust" WiFi on college and university campuses has nearly doubled in the last few years and that now nearly two-thirds of campuses are dedicating at least 1 Gbps to their residential networks, as access to quality WiFi has become another important factor in attracting and retaining students.

The fifth-annual State of ResNet Report — from the Association for College and University Technology Advancement (ACUTA) and the Association of Colleges and University Housing Officers-International (ACUHO-I) — indicated that some 83 percent of campuses now offer "near-ubiquitous" wireless access across their campuses, compared with 45 percent in 2013. (“Near-ubiquitous” is defined as campus coverage of 81 percent to 100 percent.)

But the more dramatic growth is in the ResNets. A massive 64.8 percent of campuses participating in this year’s study reported that they allocate 1 Gbps or more to their ResNets, and, further, more than one-fifth (21 percent) offer 7 Gbps or more. In 2013, just 22.3 percent of campuses offered 1 Gbps or more. And even as recently as 2015, a bare majority (51.5 percent) were in the gigabit ResNet club.

That growth isn’t accidental. According to the report, nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of business officers reported that robust residential networks were “very important in attracting and retaining on-campus students.”

Other findings from the report included:

  • Only 6 percent of campuses now dedicate less than 100 Mbps to their ResNet, compared with 11.6 percent in 2013 and 23.9 percent in 2012.
  • Similarly, only 15.9 percent of campuses dedicate 100 Mbps to 500 Mbps to their ResNet — roughly half of 2013’s figure.
  • The remainder, 13.2 percent, offer 501 to 999 Mbps, a figure that has remained fairly stable through the years of the study.
  • 44 percent of institutions are outsourcing or considering outsourcing all or part of their ResNet this year, double the percentage from 2013.

Though costs of WiFi are expected to increase, the percentage of campuses that are increasing their budgets to match has declined somewhat. Sixty-two percent of respondents in the study said they anticipated wireless costs increasing in the next two years, but only 47 percent reported an increase in funding for ResNet services in 2016, down seven points from last year.

The 2016 State of ResNet Report is being released in conjunction with the 2016 ACUTA Annual Conference and Exhibition, taking place April 24–27 in San Diego, CA. The full report can be downloaded from ACUTA's site.

About the Author

David Nagel is the former editorial director of 1105 Media's Education Group and editor-in-chief of THE Journal, STEAM Universe, and Spaces4Learning. A 30-year publishing veteran, Nagel has led or contributed to dozens of technology, art, marketing, media, and business publications.

He can be reached at [email protected]. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrnagel/ .


Featured

  • college student using a laptop alongside an AI robot and academic icons like a graduation cap, lightbulb, and upward arrow

    Nonprofit to Pilot Agentic AI Tool for Student Success Work

    Student success nonprofit InsideTrack has joined Salesforce Accelerator – Agents for Impact, a Salesforce initiative providing technology, funding, and expertise to help nonprofits build and customize AI agents and AI-powered tools to support and scale their missions.

  • magnifying glass highlighting the letters “AI” within lines of text

    New Turnitin Detection Feature Helps Identify Use of AI Humanizer Tools

    Academic integrity solution provider Turnitin has expanded its AI writing detection capabilities with AI bypasser detection, a feature designed to help identify text that has been modified by AI humanizer tools.

  • illustration of an open textbook, computer monitor with flowchart, gears, a wrench, and AI cloud symbol

    Wiley Introduces New AI Courseware Tools

    Wiley has created four new tools for its zyBooks courseware platform designed to improve instruction, learning outcomes, and academic integrity in college STEM courses.

  • college students in a classroom focus on a silver laptop, with a neural network diagram on the monitor in the background

    Report: 93% of Students Believe Gen AI Training Belongs in Degree Programs

    The vast majority of today's college students — 93% — believe generative AI training should be included in degree programs, according to a recent Coursera report. What's more, 86% of students consider gen AI the most crucial technical skill for career preparation, prioritizing it above in-demand skills such as data strategy and software development.