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Test: Internet connection on Copenhagen campuses

Exclusive on the University Post: New stats on wifi and data connection around UCPH campuses. Find the best places to study

Students have started measuring the eduroam and cellular data connectivity around the different campuses of the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) to help inform others about when and where to go to get the best internet connection. Exclusive for the University Post, the students have measured our selection of prime study locations.

Although results show that different areas around the university have different levels of connectivity, eduroam is surprisingly strong in most places tested. But pure connectivity might not be the whole story, according to Katarzyna Wac, Associate Professor at the Department of Computer Science DIKU, University of Copenhagen (UCPH) who is organising the project.

“What I have heard from many students and as I experienced it myself, it doesn’t ‘maintain’ the connection and it re-authenticates/reconnects often which disturbs ongoing data streams,” she explains.

Finding a good connection

In addition to finding that eduroam in general has a fairly high level of connectivity in most locations, the data Katarzyna Wac and her students have been collecting indicate some providers are consistently worse than the others, for instance 3 Danmark. They also find that some places, for instance CSS 4/5 and 4 basement, are not good for any of the providers.

Data collected in the various locations selected around UCPH include Downlink (the amount of data that can be downloaded), Uplink (the amount of data that can be uploaded), and Ping (the response time of the server).

Wac notes that the data points collected were one-time observations and that they may change with respect to the time of day, exact position of the phone in the study space, the number of people around, and the phone being used. All measurements were made using the Ookla Speedtest app Ookla Speedtest app.

For the University Post, Katarzyna Wac’s students measured a select group of known student hangout locations at the University of Copenhagen. The data marked in orange signifies a problematic connection. All the above stipulations and disclaimers apply:

Legal Knowledge Centre

Legal Knowledge Center, University of Copenhagen. Note that the upload speed of 0,01 for the provider ‘3’ is poor and should be marked in orange.

The Legal Knowledge Center, one of the places where law students hang out, has generally a good connection. However, the provider ‘3’ either had an outage at this specific measuring time, or performed poorly.

Law study rooms – Bispetorvet anneks

Law study rooms, Bispetorvet Anneks University of Copenhagen

Law students would be better off studying in the Law study rooms, where the connection for all the providers was good.

Copenhagen Bio Center

Copenhagen Bio Center, University of Copenhagen

The Copenhagen Biocenter, a building that houses a range of biology-related disciplines, does well but yet again the provider ‘3’ was having problems.

H.C. Ørsted Institute, building 3

H.C.Ørsted Institute, Building 3, University of Copenhagen

The H.C. Ørsted Institute building complex, which houses maths, chemistry and parts of physics, When we measured in Building 3, at the place where students congregate it was TDC and Telenor that failed to perform.

H.C Ørsted, Southern Part

H.C.Ørsted, Southern Part, University of Copenhagen

Students would be better off strolling over to the south building of H.C.Ørsted where connection was excellent for all providers.

Niels Bohr Institute library

Niels Bohr Institute Library, University of Copenhagen

Physicists need their connection. Well everyone needs their connection actually, but the physicists in the library at Blegdamsvej 17, certainly have no problem with it.

CSS Bldg 2

CSS Building 2, University of Copenhagen

The CSS buildings house a host of departments and programmes, mostly within the social sciences. Where the students hang out in Building 2, the connection is excellent.

Student area: CSS Bldg 4/5

Student area, CSS Building 5, University of Copenhagen

There is a reason why social science students prefer Building 2. Building 4/5 has serious problems with its connectivity on Telenor, TDC and the ‘3’ network.

CSS Bldg 5

CSS Building 5, University of Copenhagen

The CSS Building 4/5 problem is confirmed by data at a separate Building 5 location. It was better, but the black sheep ‘3’ failed.

UCPH Library, Frederiksberg

UCPH Library, Frederiksberg, University of Copenhagen

The UCPH Library at Frederiksberg is the preferred spot for students of agriculture, veterinary science, and a host of other life science-oriented programmes. It had problematic upload times with the usual suspects Telenor, TDC, and ‘3’.

Social Sciences library service desk, Student lounge, CSS Bldg 4

Social Sciences library service desk, student lounge, CSS bulding 4.

As you enter building 4 from building 5 there is a library with a service desk, where students were hanging out. Connectivity? OK but not so good for our TDC, Telenor and ‘3’.

Canteen, CSS Bldg 4

Canteem, CSS Building 4, University of Copenhagen

The social science students won’t find any solace in the canteen. Connectivity here was bad for every network except Eduroam, which of course has the above-mentioned jump on, jump off problem.

Panum study rooms (2nd floor)

Panum study rooms (2nd floor), University of Copenhagen

Searching for connectivity near the Panum study room

The Panum buildings are mostly frequented by medical and health sciences students. They have problems with Eduroam, Telenor and TDC. But Telia works, and surprise! They get ‘3’ to work.

Pharmaceutical Science Library

Pharmaceutical Science Library, University of Copenhagen

Pharma students at the pharmaceutical science library have a pretty good connection for every network except Telenor.

KUA Bldg 24

KUA Building 24, University of Copenhagen

The Humanities Faculty’s lack of connection in the KUA buldings has been the object of much sarcasm, complaint and reporting. Our measurements confirmed that access to university network Eduroam is atrocious. But our connectivity measurements showed other networks performing well.

Are you a student? Do you want to get involved in the connectivity project? Here is how.

universitypost@adm.ku.dk

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