To whom it may concern,

Browsing the pages of the World Wide Web at Monmouth College can prove a tedious and time consuming task. There is a definite problem when students have to plan when to complete a research paper, as the Internet connection will lag under the burden of numerous users while pupils attempt to collect information to finalize essays, contact professors or greet friends on their online Facebooks®. Other times, the Internet connection will unexpectedly stop, not allowing students or faculty access to any online resources, including the local e-mail server, which serves as a backbone for campus communication among professors, students, family and friends.

Currently, the school connects to the Internet via four T1 lines to the ISP (Internet service provider) in Macomb. A T1 line is a dedicated, high-speed line which traverses over the phone network on its own virtual circuit. The connector used is an ordinary RJ-12 phone jack, as it physically uses telephone wire. In other words, a T1 line is a corporate version of a DSL line, which many homes use for high-speed Internet. Each T1 line delivers 1.544 Mbps (megabits per second.) of bandwidth, totaling Monmouth’s connection speeds at slightly over 6 Mbps. (Megabits per second is a measure of speed over a computer network.) Currently, 4.5 Mbps are distributed to the residence halls, leaving 1.5 Mbps for the offices and academic buildings. A high-speed Time Warner or Comcast home cable connection’s maximum bandwidth is 6 Mbps. Essentially, the entire school is sharing the same amount of bandwidth which many high-speed users enjoy for a single computer in their home. Obviously, at the very least, this is an annoyance.

The school rents the T1 lines at an annual rate, in which two different costs are involved. First, the school pays $10,000 per line to the local phone companies for bandwidth use of the telephone network. Second, the school must sacrifice another $5,000 per line as a connection charge to the Illinois Century Network, which is the ISP. Many people inquire as to why Monmouth College’s internet connection costs are substantially greater than that of many other campuses nationwide. As described in the previous paragraph, every consumer of an Internet connection must connect to an ISP (Internet service provider) to receive service. Most campuses, being located in more industrialized areas, are physically closer to an ISP than Monmouth College. Due to the imminently large distance between the Illinois Century Network ISP in Macomb and Monmouth College, the costs of the T1 lines are exponentially greater.

Despite Monmouth’s remote location, feasible solutions are still within reach. With the addition of two more T1 lines, the total bandwidth would be slightly over 9 Mbps, with a total annual fee of $30,000. Although the costs mentioned do appear intimidating, and to even consider the addition of more lines seems an enormous undertaking, when the cost is dispersed across the student population, the incremented cost is much more appealing (based on last year’s figures). Divided among the 1,336 undergraduates, the increased annual fee is a comfortable $22.46 per student. Everyone would agree Internet would operate much more smoothly with the 50 percent speed increase.

A large concern would be addressing the higher costs to the students as the school is committed to keeping the tuition costs to a minimum. However, it is highly doubtful an incremented cost of $22.46 per student as a solution to the ongoing problem of lagging Internet would raise controversy, but in avoidance of a negative reaction, a poll could be conducted inquiring students as to whether they would be willing to accept the proposal with the additional costs. If a large portion of the student body was enthusiastic with the idea, the proposal would be a no-risk option.

If the poll returned mixed reactions toward the incremented tuition fees, there is another, less fiscally aggressive, yet feasible alternative. Instead of leasing the additional T1 lines, Monmouth College could purchase high-speed Internet via satellite connection for less than half the cost of implementing two T1 lines. The high-speed satellite corporation Skycasters® offers a bandwidth of 3 Mbps (roughly equivalent to that of two T1 lines) for an annual connection fee totaling $12,000. (Skycasters® is an ISP which offers internet access through satellite connections, much similar to DirecTV® satellite television.) Divided equally among students the annual tuition increase is a mere $8.98.

Although the cost increase is substantially less than the originally proposed $22.46, supplementing the current Monmouth College network with one (or several) satellite connections may require much allotted time to integrate the new satellite technology into an older network infrastructure in which the Internet connection must be distributed between satellite connections and T1s, not providing a “quick fix.” Also, many schools are still hesitant to use satellite as their primary Internet connection medium as reliability proves slightly less than the service offered by T1s. Still, satellite boasts blazing speed with affordability, and although the reliability of Skycasters® may be marginal, students and faculty at Monmouth will receive noticeably faster connections with less unexpected freezes a majority of the time.

Obviously, the Internet connection at Monmouth College is in dyer need of renovation. Unexpected freezes and lagging during prime use is at the least unacceptable, but with action amendments for quicker, reliable Internet are very probable. I am confident all students will agree the increase of $22.46 in tuition is justified as money well spent for the addition of two T1 lines. In the case there is a lesser budget for network changes, commercial satellite Internet is also available through Skycasters® with a total annual fee of $12,000 or a tuition increase of $8.98 making for another realistic option. There are many solutions, but your action is needed to make them possible.

With Concern,

Dan Krueger
Monmouth Student
Cisco Certified Network Associate
Microsoft Certified Professional

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