In early March 2011 MHC's Internet bandwidth was upgraded from 100 to 200 MBPS. Considering that 4 years ago we had a total of a 10 MBPS connection, you get a sense of just how significantly the need to supply bandwidth has grown. This trend continues.
Increasing bandwidth means we can have more information (websites, email, video, services) passed to and from the Internet. It is analogous to adding more traffic lanes to a congested highway; more room for more people to get where they are going, faster.
This will allow us to further expand wireless services on campus, and one of the first areas to work on will be providing more 'leases' to wireless devices. You may have noticed or heard that often users of our wireless network (MHC- Public) cannot get a connection. Now that we have more bandwidth to support more users, we will work on expanding the number of wireless devices that can use the wireless network at any given time to better accommodate demand. This expansion of licenses will occur in spring, it is not a change we can apply immediately.
While I don't think this 200 MPBS service will allow us to meet all demand, it is a significant step in providing improved Internet access for employees and students.
