Residents returning to Winifred Parker Hall and the Honors College residences after the holiday break likely noticed something new about their Wi-Fi – it is significantly faster.  

The two University Residences buildings were the first to receive new access points as part of a five-year, $2.6 million project to upgrade the wireless network for Purdue’s West Lafayette, Northwest and Fort Wayne campuses that was approved by the Board of Trustees in 2022.  

With the upgrade, wireless users should expect to see network speeds four times faster than the current average speed of 150 Mbps with better connectivity in user-dense areas. Users will continue to connect to the PAL 3.0 or Eduroam wireless networks as they did before. Guest users, who previously connected to AT&T Wi-Fi, will now be able to connect using the “Purdue Guest” Wi-Fi service.

Throughout the spring semester, technicians will be working to replace wireless access points in University Residences’ buildings, with the goal of having all residence halls upgraded by the end of the spring semester. Work to upgrade Wi-Fi in academic buildings is scheduled to start in April and continue for the next five years. In total,12,750 wireless access points will be installed across the three campuses, helping to modernize and improve wireless connectivity.  

"We are thrilled to begin the year tackling this highly anticipated project,” said Ian Hyatt, Chief Information Officer and Vice President of Information Technology. “Reliable wireless connectivity is critical to all aspects of campus life, and we look forward to further enhancements on the horizon.” 

More than 63,000 faculty, staff and students rely on Purdue’s wireless network for teaching, learning, research, and entertainment annually. On the West Lafayette campus alone, there are approximately 100,000 unique devices connected to the wireless network daily, with 4.6 million logins to the wireless system each day. 

Last updated: Jan. 5, 2023