Wireless routers cause Internet trouble at United Apartments

Internet trouble is a given when moving to a new residence, but some United Apartment residents were having more trouble than expected.

Jeremy Sheets, president of CMS Internet, the company that provides service for United Apartments in Mount Pleasant, said some tenants were installing wireless routers backwards, resulting in Internet trouble for other tenants and hours of troubleshooting for the technicians.

However, after today any routers that are installed backward will be disabled and the Internet won’t be turned on until the router is hooked up properly.

“It’s disrupting the Internet access to everybody in the apartment building,” he said.

As a result, an e-mail was sent to United Apartment residents Wednesday afternoon informing them that if they used a wireless router, they would have to switch to Ethernet. That has since been replaced Thursday afternoon with an alternative.

Those residents can come into CMS Internet’s office for a free-of-charge lesson on how to hook up the router or set up an appointment and a technician will install the router for $95.

Sheets said there have been about 24 residents who have set it up backward.

Sheets said the compromise will allow residents to still use their routers without causing too much trouble for CMS Internet.

“We’ve got to take action to make sure this is resolved,” he said. “We also have to weigh out the usefulness of a router and everyone having access.”

Illinois freshman Matt Brickey was one of many United Apartment residents who received the initial e-mail from the apartment saying that he and his roommates won’t be able to use a wireless router.

Brickey’s roommate, Waterford freshman Mike Molter, also isn’t happy about having to use Ethernet.

“It would be nice to use the computer on the couch,” Molter said. “I don’t know why we don’t have wireless. We pay so much in rent.”

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