The Wired Access Layer Refresh (WALR) project is an initiative to update networking across the university.
Upgrades include installation of new equipment, selective closet or room construction, and replacement of outdated cabling where needed. The pandemic altered University operations, and new safety protocols limited our access to buildings. Intrusive cable work in residence halls had to be deferred. While this meant that we could not improve the raw underlying bandwidth, we were still able to prioritize the installation of new equipment and improve overall wireless coverage for the start of the Fall 2020 semester. ITS will perform the cabling updates later in the project. This is less efficient than doing all of the work in a given location at the same time, but it allowed us to provide students with better internet access at a time when there are more online courses and when it is anticipated that they will spend more time in their rooms. For more information, visit its.uconn.edu/network-refresh-project/.