Those who visit Rec Hall may notice that there is no public wifi to connect to. No one wants their song on Spotify to cut out mid-rep because of no internet connection, but Penn State is working on getting public wifi to Rec Hall soon.

Rec Hall is the only fitness center without public internet access, as the IM and White buildings both use the unrestricted network ‘psufitness.’ The only available wifi at Rec Hall is the protected server ‘Athletics’ that can only be accessed by Athletics employees. This connection can also be found at the other two buildings, along with the public alternative. According to Josh Davis, Coordinator of Strength and Fitness Programs, the reason for Rec Hall’s limited connectivity is because of the department that Penn State’s recreational facilities were a part of.

“Up until last year all of Campus Recreation was actually a part of the Athletic Department,” Davis said. “Last year we moved out of the Athletic Department and are now part of Student Affairs.  The Athletic Department uses its own internet/wifi setup that they manage themselves, and is separate from what the rest of the university uses.”

Now that Campus Recreation is part of Student Affairs, Penn State is working on switching the IT from Athletics to Student Affairs in all three recreational buildings. The server that will be installed in Rec Hall wasn’t mentioned, but Davis mentioned that the new public wifi may improve from the prior version.

Penn State Athletics will continue to broadcast the wifi until Student Affairs completely takes over sometime this year; once Student Affairs IT takes over, then the system is expected to see noticeable upgrades. Davis also addressed the problems that faced the Athletics department with the ‘psufitness’ public wifi in the IM and White buildings.

“In White Building it is the same setup, the only downside right now in that room is that currently its only one router,” Davis said. “Because of where it is located and the fact that there are a lot of brick columns and walls in the room, the signal does not reach very far, and right now does not make it into the cardio room at all. After IM was remodeled and set up, we were going to try to get them to fully set up the other two rooms, and then our transition from one department to the other started and it slowed the whole process down. As the internet access that we use gets fully handed off from our old department to the new one, these issues will be addressed and upgraded.”

Rec Hall, for the moment, is the only recreational building without a public wifi router, but will most likely be the first to receive the new public wifi setup by Student Affairs. While no estimated date on the transition was given, students visiting Rec Hall should be relieved that they can soon lift and listen to their favorite Music Monday playlists without using data.