By Wajeeha Malik

More than 100 students living in the Residence Halls signed a petition last week protesting the Internet connectivity problems in the halls.

“Lately the internet connection has been really bad. It’s been disconnecting every once in a while, the videos aren’t buffering properly, and websites aren’t opening,” said Ashraf Sharawi, a junior at Texas A&M in Qatar.

By the end of the first day of the petition, approximately 50 residents had signed the document, which was placed in the reception area of the residence halls on Friday, Feb. 7. Petitioners included Housing and Residence Life’s Community Development Advisors (CDAs) and Front Desk Assistants (FDAs).

Sharawi said that the petition collectively voiced the residents’ concerns to Housing and Residence Life (HRL) officials.

According to Ahmed Hamed, a senior CDA, the connection problems are due to students’ inappropriate usage of the Internet.

“A lot of students are attributing the sorry state of the Internet here to the fact that the service was switched from Ooredoo to Vodafone, which is in fact not the reason,’’ said Hamed.

The real reason, he said, is more complicated: Rumors instigate that the amount of illegal torrent downloading and inappropriate Internet usage has increased. In response, the speeds were reduced to discourage Internet misconduct.

“It is also important to note that this is a decision mandated by the QF IT [department] and not HRL,’’ he said.

HRL Coordinator Arooj Rana said that her office is dealing with the issue. “We understand students’ needs and are working on a viable solution to the connectivity problems.  Our office almost daily meets with QF IT department and other relevant entities to find not just a short term fix, but a long term solution to the internet problems students have been experiencing.  We hear students loud and clear and are by no means ignoring their concerns.’’

However, the students in the dorms saw no improvements in the connectivity as the week progressed. The poor connectivity has been interfering with the students’ academics as well.  Students are having trouble downloading their homework assignments and accessing important information online.

“I was barely able to download my homework. My lab reports, lab manuals, they’re huge because they contain pictures and what not,” said Sharawi. Students have even had to go to their universities late at night to study when the Internet went down.

Hamed says that the slowed Internet is only a “short-term solution” for inappropriate usage of the Internet. In the future, each resident will be assigned a username and password so that IT will be able to point out those who are misusing the Internet. However, Hamed is unsure when this policy will go into effect.