Every day, students use wifi for everything they do on campus. But how reliable is the on campus wifi?

Currently, at Rutgers-Camden, internet access on campus is free, but there are two different options. The first option is RUwireless secure. This is a secure network only available to Rutgers staff and students with a valid Net ID and password. The other option is RUwireless, which is a non-secure network for guests visiting the University. When connecting to the guest Wi-Fi, guests must accept the terms and conditions repeatedly for each new session.

Approximately 5,822 students attend Rutgers Camden, and every day they rely on the University’s internet for everything they do. Canvas, a cloud-based learning management system by Instructure, is how students access their assignments, tests, quizzes, and announcements. It’s also where they submit them. While offline students can still access their course sites and assignments, unless they are connected to Wi-Fi, they can’t submit anything. 

Consoles, streaming devices, and smart speakers use a different wifi network, though. The wifi network these devices need to connect to is RUatHome. This is because they can’t support the security requirements needed to authenticate the connection for RUwireless secure. In order to connect these devices to this network, though, you first need to register your devices on the ResNet Device Registration Portal. By using the paraphrase portal, you can either scan a barcode with the device or enter a temporary password to register your device.

Kay Irwin is a junior and computer science major at Rutgers Camden who’s also an IT student consultant for the campus and has had her own issues with the campus wifi, “My experience with the wifi here has honestly been pretty poor. Both the dorm wifi and the secure campus wifi are very unreliable. The signal is weak, and it disconnects frequently, which makes it hard to use for anything that requires a stable connection.”

Despite these potential problems, the campus does offer help in the form of the RU-Camden IT Help Desk. Students have the option to either visit the help desk in person at the Paul Robeson Library, email help@camden.rutgers.edu, or call (833) OIT-HELP. They offer technical support to both faculty and students. In addition to this, both professional IT staff and student consultants, like Kay, work there to provide this assistance.

According to Kay, a very common issue that they get a lot is students coming to the help desk because they had problems connecting to the wifi and staying connected. She continued, “Most of the time we can help them get connected, but many of the problems come from the network itself being weak or unstable, so there isn’t always an easy fix on our end.” Furthermore, she added, “wifi and Ethernet connections seem to be one of the most common technology complaints students have.”

Rutgers Camden provides Ethernet ports in both residence halls. Though in some of the apartment-style housing, the ports may only be available in the living room. In order to use these Ethernet ports, you need your own Ethernet cable, which is Cat 5 or higher. Kay plays video games in her room, and according to her, it’s impossible to use the wifi for it because the game will constantly lag and even disconnect. She added, “The only way I’m able to play or have a stable connection is by using an ethernet cable in my dorm room.”

Though Kay admitted that even the Ethernet option has its own complications. She explained that there’s a whole setup and registration process for connecting devices to the network that confuses a lot of students, so they get a lot of calls about that at the help desk. She added that the Ethernet port in her living room didn’t even work, so she had to remove the wall plate and use the one in her bedroom instead. She stated, “That was frustrating because I was literally told by my boss that the Ethernet ports in the rooms were going to be removed and that the living room ones would be the only connection.”

In the end, Rutgers students can be faced with both positive and negative outcomes regardless of what they choose to connect to. In a world where everything we do relies on technology, though one mishap can lead to turmoil for a student and their classes.

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On January 21, 2026 weather stations began reporting on a massive snowstorm that would hit the entire Mid-Atlantic region. The storm hit the Rutgers–Camden campus, blanketing the area in ice and snow as students were returning to campus for the spring semester. 

On Friday January 23, 2026 at 6:49 PM all Rutgers Camden students received an email from Henry X. Velez, the Interim Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. In it he informed the students that for both Sunday January 25, 2026 and Monday January 26, 2026 the University would remain open but classes were to be moved to virtual instruction. Instructors were given a choice between synchronous or asynchronous learning. Department heads were also asked to allow remote work whenever possible. On Tuesday January 27, 2026 classes returned to in person instruction.

During this period the University Libraries’ buildings were closed, and the reference services provided by the library were transitioned to fully virtual. Dining services did not alter their operating hours, and Cooper Street Hospitality worked with Facilities and RUPD so that $10 meals were available for essential staff. The health and wellness center remained open, but also moved to fully virtual. Students who needed food from the Raptor’s Nest Food Pantry had the ability to request an emergency food bag at the front desk. If these food bags ran out they were informed they could be escorted to the pantry by Residence Life staff. The outer parking lots were also closed and the buses were not running.

A student at Rutgers–Camden, Kay Irwin, shared her experiences involving the aftermath of the storm. She stated, “Even when the university resumed in person classes instead of staying on zoom, the roads and walkways were still in horrible condition.” Kay continued, “Residents were told to move their cars at 12:00 a.m. with little to no notice for a snow plow that wasn’t scheduled to come until 10:00 a.m. the following morning. This was extremely frustrating and unsafe.” 

The students were first informed of needing to move their cars through an email sent out from Rutgers Camden Housing. In the email they were instructed to temporarily move their cars to any other Rutgers lot so a snow plow could come through and plow the lot. 

Dr. Keith Green, Associate Professor of English and Communications and Director of the African Studies Program, switched his Intro to Disability Studies class to online on the 27th despite classes returning to in person instruction. He stated that the reason why he chose to do this was because, “I was getting so many messages from students who just had difficulties getting out of their parking lots.”

Dr. Green felt that the actual campus was cleared very well by the grounds people, but understood issues for students in and around Camden, not on campus, “…the issue that we have is that the campus and the city [of Camden] are really interconnected.” In regards to whether Rutgers made the right decision returning to in person instruction the 27th he shared, “I would say that I can see the rationale behind opening the campus back up, there are a lot of services that we provide.”

Kay Irwin stated, “There was so much snow and ice that it was difficult to even want to leave my room.” Dr. Green pointed out that it’s up to those with power in the university and the city to sometimes make difficult decisions. The roads surrounding the Rutgers campus are not the responsibility of the Rutgers grounds people to clear, but Camden’s.

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