Getting the Best Experience with PittNet Wi-Fi

Pitt Digital launched a pilot wireless program in 2002. We provided access in a number of areas on the Pittsburgh campus, including Hillman Library, the Cathedral Commons Room, the Petersen Events Center food court, and a study area in Wesley W. Posvar Hall.

In December 2006, we launched our PittNet Wi-Fi service by activating wireless in five campus buildings: Allen Hall, Thaw Hall, Old Engineering Hall, the Space Research Coordination Center and Nuclear Physics Laboratory.

By August 2007, most academic buildings on campus had PittNet Wi-Fi service, as well as the common rooms and study areas of University residence halls.

In December 2007, we launched the PittNet Guest Wi-Fi service to provide short-term wireless access to individuals visiting Pitt on official University business.

In June 2012, Pitt began its participation in Eduroam (short for education roaming), which enables students, faculty, and staff to use their University email address and password to obtain wireless internet access at more than 2,000 participating institutions around the world.

In the summer of 2013, we expanded PittNet Wi-Fi service to all residence hall rooms on the Pittsburgh campus. We also replaced and upgraded the wireless access points in campus classrooms.

In the summer of 2015, we introduced Wireless-PittNet-Fast, a companion network to PittNet Wi-Fi that provides faster wireless speeds for newer devices.

In the summer of 2017, we added more than 300 access points to the residence halls on the Pittsburgh campus.

In the summer of 2019, MyResNet became the Wi-Fi service provider in residence halls on the Pittsburgh campus.

In the summer of 2020, we simplified the connection process by combining Wireless PittNet and Wireless-PittNet-Fast into a single network named Wireless PittNet.

Pitt Digital makes every possible effort to provide outstanding wireless coverage on campus. Despite the substantial number of wireless access points throughout campus, your wireless experience can be negatively affected by a number of factors.

• The number of people connected to a wireless access point: PittNet Wi-Fi is a shared resource. That means your experience is directly tied to and affected by the other people who are using the network in the same location and at the same time as you are. When you are connected to a wired port on campus, you are the only person using that bandwidth. In contrast, a single wireless access point on campus provides 54 Mbps of shared bandwidth on PittNet Wi-Fi. That means that as more people connect to a single access point, the bandwidth available to each person will decrease.

• What people are doing on the wireless network: Some activities consume more wireless bandwidth than others. Browsing a website or sending an email typically consumes a small amount of bandwidth. But streaming a high-definition movie or downloading very large files can use significant amounts of bandwidth. You may be sharing a wireless access point with a relatively small number of other people, but if they are all performing activities that require a lot of bandwidth, then your wireless experience will be significantly affected.

• Interference from other devices: Other devices ranging from cordless phones, Wi-Fi enabled printers, wireless cameras, Bluetooth devices, wireless game controllers, wireless audio headsets, and computer peripherals (for example, wireless mice and keyboards) can disrupt access to wireless networks.

• How close you are to a wireless access point: The farther away from an access point you are, the slower your connection speed will be. You may notice this in common areas outside certain classrooms. We focus our wireless access points on providing excellent service within classrooms. As you start to move away from an access point located in a classroom, your wireless signal will weaken and performance may be negatively affected if there are no other access points nearby.

• A building's architecture and the construction materials it uses: Just like with smartphones, a building's architecture can greatly affect its ability to support a robust wireless network. If the walls are too thick or constructed of signal-blocking material, wireless signals can be adversely affected. In addition, items consisting of metal or plaster with embedded mesh (e.g., furniture, metal decor, lighting, appliances) cause very high levels of interference. Items consisting of paper or heavy fabric (e.g., books, draperies, posters) cause high levels of interference. Items consisting of glass (e.g., glass decor, windows) cause medium levels of interference.

Pitt Digital is committed to delivering the best wireless experience to students, faculty, and staff. We do this by:

• Regularly monitoring the wireless network to determine where the areas of heaviest usage are located. This helps us to better plan for future enhancements to our service. Monitoring also helps us identify access points that are not working so that we can repair or replace them.

• Conducting wireless site surveys to determine the optimum installation locations for wireless access points. We use these site surveys to determine where to place new access points and to reevaluate areas where we have received reports that wireless service is under-performing.

• Upgrading and adding new wireless access points. Based on our monitoring and site surveys, we will add new access points to areas that may require them. We also upgrade existing access points to keep pace with the latest technology.

• Providing assistance connecting to PittNet Wi-Fi. You can visit our Technology Help Desk at the University Store on Fifth for in-person assistance connecting to PittNet Wi-Fi. Our Technology Help Desk can also assist you with troubleshooting any wireless issues you might encounter.  

If you are experiencing poor wireless performance somewhere on campus, there are a number of steps you can take.

• Reposition your device: Sometimes simply physically rotating your device to face a different direction can improve wireless speed.

• Move to a new location: If you are in an area where a lot of people are using laptops or mobile devices, moving to a less crowded area may significantly improve wireless performance.

• Turn your wireless adapter off and on: There are multiple access points in academic buildings. Your computer might be connected to an access point that is too far away to provide a good connection. Turning your wireless adapter off and then back on resets the list of available access points. Your computer may then connect to an access point that is closer.

• Try upgrading to a newer version of your wireless drivers: If you are having trouble staying connected, then you may need to update your wireless drivers. This is a more advanced topic and you may wish to consult the Technology Help Desk for assistance at 412-624-HELP (4357) or online.

• Limit your viewing of streamed content and other high-bandwidth applications: Always keep in mind that wireless is a shared resource. When you stream high-definition videos or download large files, it consumes bandwidth that then cannot be used by other wireless users in the same area.

• Perform OS installations and major system updates while on a wired network: Major system updates, like those from Apple and Service Packs from Microsoft, are often quite large and should be downloaded while connected to a wired network. Operating system downloads should also be handled while connected to a wired network.

• Keep a clean machine: A computer that is infected with viruses or other malicious software can lead to high network traffic that affects wireless performance. Be sure you have installed antivirus software and that you use it to scan your laptop regularly.

• Tell us about any issues you encounter: If you encounter slow or poor wireless performance somewhere on campus, please submit an online wireless feedback form to us so that we can look into the issue. For immediate assistance with a problem, be sure to contact our Technology Help Desk at 412-624-HELP (4357) or online.