A multi-year project to dramatically improve Wi-Fi on UB’s three campuses is now complete, and students, faculty and staff should notice better speed and coverage.    

UBIT’s Wi-Fi Boost initiative, managed by UBIT network architect Jerry Bucklaew, helped install more than 6,000 new Wi-Fi access points in 85 buildings and areas across UB’s three campuses. With these new access points installed and old access points upgraded, members of the UB community can take advantage of the latest wireless standard — IEEE 802.11ac — that increases speeds up to 1.3 Gbps.

The project, which began in 2014, addressed complaints by students of poor Wi-Fi reception, as well as the increasing use of Wi-Fi by all members of the UB community.

UB also is now connected to eduroam, a wireless network found at hundreds of learning institutions across the U.S. and the world. This means anyone who is connected to eduroam at UB will automatically be connected to fast and secure Wi-Fi if they visit any of the eduroam universities. 

Boosting Wi-Fi at UB not only makes network connections faster and more reliable today, it also keeps the university on track to have cutting-edge wireless networks in the future.

J. Brice Bible, vice president and chief information officer, says the new wireless network allows UBIT to “better meet the mobility expectations of its students, faculty and administrators, while preparing the university for the future.”

UBIT staff point out that no wireless network is ever perfect — solid walls, other electronic devices and even microwave ovens can interfere with a wireless signal. And individuals using the network also can significantly impact service by, for example, using personal Wi-Fi routers and wireless printers in wireless mode, which can notably degrade the Wi-Fi environment.

Anyone who experiences problems getting connected, or staying connected, to UB’s Wi-Fi networks can contact the UBIT Help Center online, by phone (716-645-3542) or by stopping by the Help Center locations at the Cybrary on the second floor of Lockwood Library on the North Campus and on the first floor of the Health Sciences Library on the South Campus.