Wireless coverage has improved on campus this year, although more slowly than planned because of state budget limits. The same is true for other upgrades to the campus data network.

In May, the Communications Resources department of Information and Educational Technology (IET-CR) expanded wireless coverage to include all of Wellman and Giedt halls, said Mark Redican, senior manager in IET-CR. Coverage in both buildings had been incidental.

The IET-CR group, though restrained by campus budget cuts, is making progress on the wireless and data network upgrades mapped out in the six-year UCDNet3 telecommunications improvement plan. Other progress includes:

• Higher capacity data network electronics have been installed in Tupper Hall and the William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital.
• Upgrades are scheduled in the Ira M. "Gary" Gourley Clinical Teaching Center (known as the Veterinary Medicine Laboratory Facility until 2007) and Academic Surge.
• Gladys Valley Hall will get high-capacity wireless equipment.

UCDNet3, the product of extensive planning, testing and review, received approval from campus leadership to proceed in 2008. Installations began a year ago. The project is equipping UC Davis for the data demands of the next decade by building a network that will move data 10 times faster than the previous network has.

The new network will have sturdier electronics, better security, an improved ability to identify and prioritize network traffic, plus increased wireless coverage and systems. The expanded capacity will support the fast transmission of high-definition video, as well as the huge data files needed to support advanced research.

Read more about campus wireless coverage here.