Aaron Schaffer, Photo Editor
Time Warner Cable crews visited the Riverview Apartments on Wednesday, March 6 to replace Internet equipment in an effort to help improve the speed and reliability of the complex’s wireless connection.
Between the hours of 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., students experienced intermittent blackouts in the wireless as crews worked on the equipment.
“As managers, we continually monitor all systems on site,” said Ray Nowakowski, property manager at Riverview. “Time Warner performs both routine and exceptional maintenance when required.”
According to an email sent to Riverview residents, Time Warner only worked on one building at a time so as to minimize the interruption.
“All buildings will not be without Internet for the entire four hours,” the email said.
The inspection was spurred by a petition started by the Riverview Hall Council entitled “Time Warner Cable: Fix the unstable Internet in Riverview Apartments” on the website change.org.
Many students have complained that the Internet in Riverview is particularly spotty.
“Being a student of a large research institution, it is hard to accomplish schoolwork with an unreliable, inconsistent Internet with old routers,” the petition stated.
The petition had 164 signatures as of Wednesday.
Unlike other areas of campus, the Internet in Riverview is managed by Time Warner because UR does not directly own Riverview; provisions for Time Warner to manage the Internet were part of the original contract UR negotiated with the landlord.
As of Wednesday night, students have not been able to reliably determine if the work has led to any improvements in Internet connectivity.
Fox is a member of the class of 2013.
