Fernando Anazco, Contributing Photographer
Residents of the Riverview Apartments are saying enough is enough with the complex’s poor internet connectivity. Recently, a petition entitled “Time Warner Cable: Fix the unstable internet in Riverview Apartments” appeared on the website change.org. The petition, started by the Riverview Hall Council, demands that something needs to be done to address the problem.
“Being a student of a large research institution, it is hard to accomplish school work with an unreliable, inconsistent internet with old routers,” the petition reads.
“There have been several times where I get back to my apartment from campus and have to go back to campus to do homework because the internet is just so bad,” said senior Stephanie Kane. “Some days the internet is OK, and other days it’s a complete joke. It will just shut down for the entire day.”
Because Riverview is not directly owned by UR, the internet service is not part of the University’s network. Rather, it falls to the landlord to provide internet connectivity for the properties, as negotiated in the contract between the landlord and UR.
“I’m not sure if the petition will work — I’m not even sure if Time Warner knows about it,” Junior Taylor Sodano said. “The details behind the petition are very hazy, but I hope at least the University sees it and tries to step in to enact positive change.”
The Riverview apartments are owned and maintained by Somerset Properties. The contract between UR and Somerset is in the process of being re-negotiated. The issue with internet connection will be added to current discussions during the negotiation process.
Information Technology (IT) officials agreed that there is a problem with internet connectivity at Riverview and that the problem needs to be addressed.
“The key in this is when we will resolve the network connectivity issues, regardless of what happens in the contract or not,” said Senior IT Officer Devarajulu Ravichandran. “We heard you, and we are working on the matter.”
Ravichandran said IT will conduct a spot-check of Riverview’s internet connectivity within the next two weeks. Once the on-the-ground assessment is completed, IT will be able to present options and any recommendations to ResLife.
Currently, the petition has 160 signatures, with 40 more needed to reach its goal of 200. It reached 100 signatures on Feb 18.
Ravichandran said that while the issue may be fixable, it won’t be free.
“Someone has to spend the money on making the service better,” he said. “After the assessment, we will quantify how much it will cost to make the service better.”
The Riverview Hall Council declined to comment on the petition, and said they would follow up with the CT afterwards.
Fox is a member of the class of 2013.
