404: U of A’s internet not found
On January 21, U of A's campuses were struck by an internet outage for the day. Additionally, Canvas and Bear Tracks skipped town.
Macy WongConfusion and frustration struck University of Alberta’s campuses on January 21, when an internet outage shook up students and workers. Internet access was unavailable for many between about 12:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m..
Students were also frustrated when they found out Canvas and Bear Tracks had shut down. People in the Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science (CCIS) reported classes ending early, as well as SubMart and the Daily Grind losing large amounts of sales.
Students on Campus
The Gateway spoke to several students on campus who reported a complete internet shutdown, as well as connectivity issues.
“We haven’t been able to do our work at all,” one student said.
The shutdown affected the majority of North Campus, with issues reported in CCIS, the Central Academic Building (CAB), the Diane and Irving Kipnes Health Research Academy (KHRA), the Engineering Teaching and Learning Complex (ETLC), and Students’ Union Building (SUB).
One student in SUB chose to look at the bright side.
“It’s given us a chance to just hang out and chat,” they said.
Other students reported their class ending early as they weren’t able to access notes or Wooclap.
SUB businesses lost out on sales
A barista at the Daily Grind reported that sales were affected by card machines not working.
“One out of every three people coming here doesn’t have cash,” they said.
The barista added that the outage had definitely impacted business, and that the lack of ATMs nearby prevented people from getting their coffee.
Workers in SubMart reported similar issues, as the majority of shoppers did not carry cash.
“[Students] don’t use cash anymore nowadays. So we actually lost almost half our sales,” a worker said.
The University’s Response
The Gateway contacted the U of A’s media relations for further information and received this response.
“The U of A experienced a partial network outage, resulting in intermittent access issues for those on all campuses and working on university networks. This is affecting connectivity for those on and off campus. Teams are addressing the issues as quickly as possible, and some services have already come back in service.”
Media relations did not provide any information about the cause of the outage.
