Silver Packaging around a Damaged Gift

When I was looking at my college website during my admission process, trying to figure out which college to join, one of the facilities of our college really got me hooked. “Fully Wifi campus” was proudly displayed on the college website. Free Internet really stimulates college students, and I am no exception. And just to be sure, I asked my college seniors whether this claim was really true, who assured me earnestly that it was.

So naturally, when I come to the college, my hopes are pretty high. Among other things, I am really excited about checking the speed of the Wifi in our college campus. So just on my first day in class, I am enthralled to discover that my phone can detect the Wifi just outside my classroom! And the speed, while not exactly “blazing fast”, is still reasonably good. For someone who is used to working with 2G, this is an amazing improvement. I open the Google homepage and enthusiastically type in “Facebook”, hoping to apprise my friends on just how splendid this college was!

This is where the fairytale ends. Instead of getting redirected to the blue themed site I’m so used to seeing, I’m staring at a notice on my phone, which proudly reads, “This site has been blocked”. Undeterred, I type in a few more keywords in the search bar, and my worst fears are confirmed; almost every site has been blocked! What is the point of free Internet if you can’t access almost any site?

Talking to my hosteller friends, I am told of the way around this problem. Thinking as only an engineer could, they have overcome the problem of blocked sites by using a proxy browser. However, before I could get my hopes up again I was once again confronted with the grim reality; the Wifi as well as the LAN ports were erratic, the net speed was fluctuating, and the proxy browser was really too cumbersome for frequent use.

This prompted a string of unanswered questions in my mind- what is point of having a net facility in college when the browsing sessions have to be so restrictive? Granted, we can use the internet services other that Wikipedia in order to answer our queries. Yet, it all seems kind of pointless to me. Although places like Knowledge Park and Computer Centre in the college offer a little more freedom, these have their shortcomings as well. There is no net proper net facility in late hours; maybe that’s why students prefer net cards and USB dongles to fulfil their requirements. This problem, although not the most urgent one, will certainly make a student’s life much more enjoyable if rectified.

Girls, especially, will benefit from this as their 9 pm restriction hampers the chance of any nighttime research or entertainment. A little leniency from the administrative authorities would surely be welcome with open arms. Internet is a fun way to relax, and students working long hours on their projects need a little respite from work. All in all, a somewhat working infrastructure is already in place, we just need to fine tune it and reduce the restrictions and then our college can truly have a “fully Wifi campus”!

And this is a scenario my friends, which basically represents what happens in most avenues of life. A guy (whose name I don't remember, sorry) once famously said- "Just take care of the little things in life, and the big ones will fall into place automatically!" Take care!