• Marquette plans to increase the campus Internet capacity for students from 100 to 700 megabits per second.
• The project should take 30 to 45 days to complete.
• The increase in bandwidth will cause a substantial increase in Internet speed, especially for the wired network.

Marquette students frustrated with campus Internet speed should resist the urge to pull out their hair — a substantial boost in campus Internet capacity is in the works.

The university is planning to enlarge the Internet capacity for students from 100 to 700 megabits per second, said Kathy Lang, chief information officer for Information Technology Services.

Marquette has placed an order with tw telecom, the Internet provider for faculty, staff and students, to increase bandwidth in the student Internet pipe, Lang said via e-mail. The company must first purchase and install the necessary equipment on campus, she said.

No official implementation date has been set, Lang said.

The current estimate for completion of the project is 30 to 45 days, said Mary Simmons, network and security director of IT Services.

No cost estimate is available at this time, Simmons said via e-mail.

The move will result in a significant increase in the speed of Internet access for students, especially when using the wired network, Lang said. The difference in speed may not be as noticeable with the wireless network.

"Wireless users, especially in the residence halls, might not experience as large of a difference due to the overwhelming number of computers sharing the same wireless space," Lang said.

However, wireless users in less congested areas, like the Raynor Memorial Library, will see a considerable increase in Internet speed, Simmons said.

"Physical space makes a big difference with a wireless network," Simmons said.