@conference{424,
  keywords = {Wi-Fi, usage patterns, student residence, higher learning institutions, Wi-Fi Devices.},
  author = {V. Mbonye and C. Sue Price},
  title = {Students’ use of on-campus wireless networks: Analysis by residence type},
  abstract = {Universities supply free Wi-Fi to registered students on campus to access learning materials. Many issues could reduce the quality of students' Wi-Fi use, e.g., devices using different Wi-Fi standards than those used on campus, and numerous students accessing Wi-Fi through a single access point simultaneously. Understanding where, when and how students use Wi-Fi on campus can help IT administrators to provide an adequate Wi-Fi service. This pre-COVID study adopted a mixed method approach. Questionnaires were completed by a representative sample of 373 students on the Westville campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Two Information Communication Services (lCS) staff members were interviewed to gain insights into how the Wi-Fi was set up, and their perspectives on how students utilise the Wi-Fi. The questionnaire data were analysed statistically, and interview results were used to explain results. The students' most used venues, and the places they encountered poor and best Wi-Fi signal quality, are presented, along with the durations of use and problems encountered. When analysing these results by students' residence type, each category showed a different pattern of use. These results can help IT administrators understand where to improve the Wi-Fi quality, if necessary. It is particularly useful if some categories of students return to campus, while others do not, e.g. as COVID-19 lockdowns ease.},
  year = {2021},
  journal = {2021 International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Computing and Data Communication Systems (icABCD)},
  month = {5-6/08},
  publisher = {IEEE},
  address = {Durban, South Africa},
  isbn = {978-1-7281-8591-0},
  url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9519327},
  doi = {https://doi.org/10.1109/icABCD51485.2021.9519327},
}