By just inputting their Morgan State username and password, students can easily connect to Morgan’s wireless network “MSU Wireless” which is available campus wide. However, with an enrollment of 7,725 students, most question if the network power is capable of supplying that many students with a sufficient wireless connection in order to complete daily activities on personal laptops, smartphones and other miscellaneous devices.

Students who are provided with off-campus housing such as Morgan View and Marble Hall are the majority of students who struggle in inconsistent internet connection. Marble Hall doesn’t have access any of Morgan’s wireless network, forcing students include an efficient router in their budget.

“The wifi is good on campus,” said transfer student Yasmine Funches. “Sometimes it does buffer but there are plenty of times when I am not happy with my internet at Marble as well.” She also noted that no one mentioned to her that she would need a router in the dorm, which was financially inconvenient.

The MSU Wireless network is available for students in Morgan View apartments, but still delivers more complications compared to someone who has on-campus housing.

“Living in Morgan View was 50-50; there were days when internet connection was inefficient and there were times when I was satisfied,” said senior Andre Henry.

Gary Press, Interim Director of Data Services, is launching a project called Net Generation Network to reinvent Morgan State’s campus connection. The NGN’s mission is to enhance the speed of which information is sent and the connection itself. By doing this, Press and other team members will invest $19 million into the project to change the current speed which is, 2Gbs (Gbits/s) to 80Gbs. Engineering and Science Buildings will upgrade to 240Gbs. NGN is also adding over a thousand access points to the campus. All of this will increase the internet pipeline for students and satisfy the mission that NGN is trying to accomplish.

“The connection that the device is on is slow because too many people are trying to get to the same access point, which requires a bigger pipe because there are only 400 access points at Morgan,” said Press.

Unlike Marble Hall residents, Morgan View residents cannot obtain a router in order to solve these complications due to the Higher Education Act which requires institutions to combat “…unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material by users of the Institution’s network.”

Therefore, Morgan monitors its network so that they can maintain the integrity and confidentiality of student and employee data. In addition, it prevents students to reproduce or distribute copyrighted work such as music, movies, software, and more. The Motion Pictures Association helps notify when students are stealing copyright movies.

Otherwise it being illegal, downloading copyrighted work can also make Morgan’s network and your personal computer prone to viruses. Violating these copyright terms can result in a student’s suspension from network privileges or the payment of fines and, at worst, lead to expulsion.

Press understands that the attendance of students is increasing every year and hopes to accomplish this in 7-8 months. However, NGN can be delayed due to the amount of violations within copywriting laws.