<p>How was your experience with your dorm's WiFi (unless you used an Ethernet cable)? I only play a few computer games (Battlefield 2, Fallout 3, Team Fortress 2), but my WiFi at home jumps all over the place and just gets ridiculous (note to self, never buy AT&T again). Probably won't get to play that often as a physics major, though. Anyway, I was just curious.</p>
<p>Anybody have any experience with drilling into dorm walls? I e-mailed Housing and they said it's OK as long as maintenance does it (upped price because their union, joy) despite knowing the procedure for doing so. Figured 1 maybe 2 guitar wall mounts and then a coat hanger or something either on the wall or the back of the door. BUT THEN the residence hall pamphlet things say that you can't drill into the walls. I don't like being lied to :(</p>
<p>And with that, only 7 days until the most awkward experience of my life: move-in day with divorced parents O_o Thanks for any answers, everyone.</p>
<p>You should ask your RA or maybe other returning students at your school about the wall drilling. That’s the type of thing where the official rule may often be ignored, or something you can get away with if done discreetly.</p>
<p>The bandwidth in my dorm the first year was about 10 mbps, and the 2nd year it was around 80 mbps. You should really use an ethernet cable if you want it to be reliable.</p>
<p>When I lived in the dorms, WiFi was only provided in public areas. There is no dorm WiFi in the rooms, so everyone ran their own WAP. Thing is, when WiFi is shared by multiple people in a small space, it doesn’t scale up very well; there’s only a limited amount of channels to go around everyone.</p>
<p>As for drilling: they didn’t lie to you. If maintenance does it, then they did it, not you.</p>
<p>The WiFi at my school is pretty fast. I actually prefer to use it over an ethernet cable because it’s more reliable. I know that makes about no sense, but it’s true.</p>
<p>As for hanging things, how about using those 3m/command hooks for some of the stuff? Obviously not the guitar mounts, but it’s a lot more convenient to use those plastic hooks, and then there’s not a ton of noise from drilling into the wall.</p>
<p>better be careful with drilling into the walls. I know at a lot of universities you can get a fine for it. it is something you will have to ask on move in day</p>
<p>I highly doubt you’d be allowed to drill into the walls or have someone else do it. If every kid wanted to put new holes in the walls every year, the place would be swiss cheese in 20 years.</p>
<p>My school has wifi everywhere on campus both inside and outside. Depending on how closes you are to the router you can max it at 54 mbps up and down. In the dorm I was in they also had 10 mbps ethernet. But, again, it was REAL 10 mbps up and down. In some locations around campus you can get 100 mbps ethernet. This stuff is like cocaine. I’ve speed tested it around 150 mbps down and 80 mbps up (literally so fast it breaks the speed test and tricks it into 150).</p>
<p>The only downside to the internet is ping times are higher than you average residential connection. This is because you’re behind some heavy duty firewalls.</p>
<p>I’m not sure about guitars, but lots of places sell over-the-door coat hooks that you could use on your closet door or on your room door if you want to avoid mounting one of those. I’ve used one in my bedroom at home for years and it works perfectly.</p>
<p>At my school, you’re not supposed to drill into the walls but as long as you fill the holes at the end of the year you can almost always avoid the fine.</p>
<p>Since I’m bringing my desktop I’m just going to use the Ethernet cable. If I do somehow find the time for a game on the rare occasion I’ll just ask if their TechZone can allow the game through their firewall(s) for better gameplay.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who has answered thus far. Very informative.</p>
<p>My school allows everything for a computer. So they don’t block torrent ports or whatever other ports games use (some schools do though). My school also made sure to allow the ports game consoles use.</p>
<p>The high ping at my school is just a consequence of the university being like a miniature city (and 5 hops between you and the “outside world”). Where I can get 20 ms pings at home it might be 50 ms at school on ethernet. Still low enough for gaming though.</p>
<p>I already moved in and my parents, who are also divorced, drove me down here. I was asleep have the time but it wasn’t that awkward. Just a lot of awful jokes. As for the internet. It sucks. I have to log in every 12 min that I’m inactive and sometimes it doesn’t even work. I have to buy myself an ethernet cable whenever I get a chance. For me down here they only let you drill if it’s necessary and if you do it you have to pay extra.</p>
<p>This is likely not AT&T’s fault, but either your router’s, your wireless card’s, or yours for not playing with different channels to transmit over to try and find the one with the best connection.</p>
<p>Unless you live next to a Starbucks and use their wifi or something.</p>