Network Modernization Initiative

Technology use on campus has evolved significantly over recent years — most students now bring laptops and tablets to class, and faculty increasingly rely on connected devices for instruction. This summer, Pitt Digital is upgrading PittNet, the University’s Wi-Fi and wired network, to ensure it can support how people teach, learn, and work today.

The upgrade includes:

• Surveying each building, floor by floor, to measure coverage, identify dead zones, and locate sources of interference
• Installing nearly 4,000 new Wi-Fi access points and upgrading wired infrastructure across offices, classrooms, and other non-residential areas
• Upgrading the behind-the-scenes equipment that connects everything together
• Fine-tuning coverage based on real-world testing

Modernizing a network across dozens of buildings — many constructed as far back as the 1920s, with thick concrete walls that Wi-Fi signals struggle to penetrate — requires careful planning, specialized expertise, and ongoing adjustment once spaces are in active use.