Internet bandwidth in dorms?
 

My 13 year old son is concerned about going away to college someday because he's worried that the internet bandwidth in the dorms is going to be awful. So, he asked me to ask those of you who have been in college recently how the network connections in the dorms are.

Thanks!

I think your son is my new best friend - I thought I was the only 13 year old who worried about random things far off in the future! My parents are convinced I've been an adult since the age of four...

Anyway, here we have the option of wireless internet or a land line ethernet hookup. I've never had problems with internet speed on either connection. I'm not too tech savvy, so hopefully this is the right measurement, but it says my connection speed if 54.0 Mbps.

I didn't have a problem with ethernet or wireless internet access on campus at all. The major concern (Which shouldn't be a large one) is if someone or multiple people are hogging said bandwith by down/uploading multiple files/large files in a short amount to time. This will slow everyone else's browsing speed and at my college was reason to shut off that students internet access.

Tell your son that (unless he's a young Einstein) he has quite a few years until college, so he need not concern himself with something that very well will change by then.

Plus, I miss the days when kids were kids. LOL.

The bandwidth in my dorm was absolutely fine. We didn't have wireless, but I think all the dorms are now wireless. I'm sure they will be by the time your son gets to school, and I'm sure that any bandwidth issues will be resolved by then too.

At my school, only one of the dorms allows for you to connect directly to the internet using an Ethernet cable. They recently upgraded the school's wireless, but, in my (and my others') opinion, it still blows (although it is an improvement from last year). My roommates and I opted to have Comcast supply the internet to our apartment and it's much more consistent and a lot faster.

At my school neither the dorms or the on campus apartments have wireless internet. I don't know about the dorms but I live in one of the apartment complexes and each bedroom has its own ethernet, cable, and phone connections and there is also one of each in the livingroom.

I attended two universities during undergrad and both were completely wireless, both in the dorms and around campus. You also had the option to use an ethernet cable in the dorms if you wanted to.

Tell him that by the time he's in college, we won't need the internet. We'll all be communicating telepathically. So he'll only be limited by the power of his own brain. :p

That's a funny (cute) question for a 13 yo to ask.

He's 13. It'll be 4-5 years before he goes to college. Does he have any concept how much things are going to change between now and then??

When I was in college (let's just say - more than 10 and less than 20 years ago ;) ) the dorms were all wired up with T1 lines. At the time, that was cutting-edge. Now, even a standard residential cable or DSL circuit will run rings around a T1.

Your son needs to stop worrying about this and worry about doing well in HS and getting into a good college instead.

I should note, that his concern has to do with being able to play Xbox Live, not anything academic at all, so he's definitely being a kid with this concern! And yes, it will be Fall 2014 when he enters college. He is trying to use this as an excuse to NOT go away to college. Personally, I think going away to college, if you possibly can, is a whole learning experience in and of itself. He tends to be a home body and really needs to expand his horizons by going away. He doesn't want to move out! I told him if he wants to live at home while in college, it will have to be at his dad's house!

He does great in school and I don't see that changing.

I didn't mean to imply that your son was being a slacker or anything. I was pointing out the obvious - college-bound students have to work hard - getting good grades, doing well in honors and AP classes, impressing teachers who will write good recommendations, etc. Your son needs to work hard now so that he will have his pick of colleges 3 years from now.

The available technology will continue to change from year to year. The Xbox may have gone the way of the LP by 2014. ;) You and your son will evaluate options in three years' time - and internet connectivity will be one of many factors.

I should note that he is also my child who hates change. I'm glad his sister is the older one so that when she goes away to college, he will get opportunities to see her in that environment so it won't seem as scary to him. He truly hates change. Which, in my eyes, is all the more reason to push him out of his comfort zone and live away from home from the start of college. Although he hates change, he always does fine once in a situation. He was worrying yesterday about how to find his way around the high school next school year. My daughter drew him a little map to show him it's not that bad. When he was really little, if there was a change in the routine, I would have to let him know the day before so he had time to think about it and adjust. If I told him in the morning that he was going to day care instead of staying home, for example, he would be monstrous until he got there, then he would be fine. You can't spring spontaneous changes on this kid..lol. So yes, 4-5 years to adjust to the idea of going away to college is probably the time he needs to think about it and decide it will be ok!

In 4 to 5 years we will beam everything into their brains.

Your kid is so me. Even now. UGH change.