It finally happened. University of Exeter students lost the one thing they can’t re-buy on Overheard: power.
For a generation of students who don’t sleep until 2 a.m., don’t wake up until midday, and whose laptops and phones come with a built-in display light, a power outage is nothing but a slight inconvenience. The power outlets in the library are really only there for decoration, since they never work, and between the chatting in the Law Library and last year’s flood in the downstairs level, students have become accustomed to the pros and the cons of studying on campus.
However, the line was crossed – or, rather, cut – when the university WiFi, the notorious eduroam, went out, too.
Eduroam has gained a reputation for being the least reliable WiFi, quite possibly, ever. Managing to connect, although a feat in itself, does not ensure a stable, nor functioning, internet connection (in only select locations on campus, too). When it does work, it’s a guessing game of how long until the open web browsers start to buffer. But the one thing keeping deadline-ridden university students going is the fleeting, glimmering hope that somehow, someway, the university-provided free network service will work. Thus, when a power outage negates this possibility, all hope is stripped from them and lost.
But, not to worry! Students received a mass-sent 74-word email signed ‘best wishes’, assuring people that the university was working on it. Note to everybody: invest in buying enough mobile data to accompany you in your adventures of having to find somewhere else to study.
