During the summer, MSU computing officials installed about 300 wireless access points in campus buildings.
Now, there are about 500 total wireless access points in 40 buildings around campus.
"We went nuts this summer," said Tom Davis, director of Academic Computing & Network Services. "We were installing wireless so fast the people that pull the cables were having a hard time keeping up with it. They had to hire a couple contractors to install the network cables."
In the last few years, Academic Computing & Network Services, or ACNS, received about $250,000 from the university to install wireless Internet in academic areas on campus, said Rich Wiggins, senior information technologist for ACNS.
The Main Library was the first place to get wireless access points with this money; it took about 50 wireless access points to cover the library.
Davis said it's been a juggling act to decide what will be the next highest priority location for wireless Internet.
"When people found out about it, it just went like gangbusters," he said. "Once people saw it in action, we just had a pent-up demand around campus from departments saying, 'Hey, can I be next?'"
ASMSU, MSU's undergraduate student government, is looking into getting more access points installed in places heavily trafficked by students, said Eric Hinojosa, the Residence Halls Association representative for ASMSU's Academic Assembly.
"We have to also compete with a lot of smaller colleges around the state that have entirely wireless campuses," Hinojosa said. "It's something students look at when they're considering where they want to go for their college education."
Hinojosa said he wants to get suggestions from students on where to install access points, and once the assembly agrees on locations, members will work on getting them installed and possibly using ASMSU's student tax dollars to do so.
Because the money is primarily for academic locations, ACNS pays about half the cost for installing the access points in buildings such as residence halls. RHA helped pay for wireless access points in some dorms.
Hospitality business junior Sabrina St. Peter uses the wireless Internet in the Union, but said she wishes more buildings on campus had access points.
"I actually bought my laptop thinking I'd be able to use it (at the Union)," St. Peter said, adding that she uses the wireless Internet at the Union about twice a week.
In comparison to other universities' wireless systems in Michigan, Davis said MSU has almost caught up, but with a campus this size, he said he doesn't plan on making the entire campus wireless.
The University of Michigan, Central Michigan University, Western Michigan University, Northern Michigan University, Saginaw Valley State University and Grand Valley State University all have at least one wireless access point in about a third of their campus' buildings, employees of the universities said.
Western Michigan's Web site says it "was the first public, research intensive institution to implement wireless connectivity across the whole campus."
Officials from Western Michigan declined to comment further.
Employees from other universities, such as Central Michigan, U-M, Northern Michigan and Saginaw Valley State, said they are continuing to add more access points.
