Student housing populations demand robust internet connections to stream classes, research and collaborate with study partners, and even log in to remote jobs. To unwind, they may stream movies, download entire seasons of favorite television shows or join friends in lengthy online gaming sessions.
Property owners and managers may already feel they are fighting an uphill battle to satisfy residents’ voracious appetites for internet bandwidth, but greater challenges lie ahead. Driven largely by advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), data volumes could soon overwhelm internet connectivity at properties that fail to prepare or adapt.
“The biggest change I see ahead in student housing is the bandwidth increases that are coming,” says Jared Sanders, president of CBX Connect, a bulk internet and satellite TV provider.
Sanders is referring to exponentially increasing demand for network capacity to accommodate global data creation, which has accelerated with AI and now grows 20 percent to 25 percent annually, according to McKinsey & Co. Internet service providers also cite Nielsen’s Law of Internet Bandwidth, which states that a high-end user’s connection needs grow by 50 percent per year. Nielsen’s prediction of user demand has held true for four decades with only minor variation.
“We will be at a point in the next five to 10 years when a property may be asking for bandwidth that exceeds the 10 gigs they want now,” Sanders says. “The amount of bandwidth that’s going to be required will necessitate a level of change and innovation that the student housing industry hasn’t experienced before.”
Disruption and Opportunity
Some of those innovations are already helping residents access the internet, and not simply from a wall outlet or user-owned wireless router. Since the pandemic, student housing residents expect an uninterrupted Wi-Fi connection throughout the property. Owners and operators can provide that experience with a curated network of carefully placed Wi-Fi hubs.
“We’re seeing that 100 percent of the property requires coverage, and that’s not just inside but outside,” Sanders says. “Residents want to be able to go from their room to the pool, greenspace or other amenities on a seamless connection.”
CBX Connect
“Owners and operators typically engage a service provider to manage their Wi-Fi network, rather than relegating that function to community staff”, says Brian Olson, CBX Connect’s chief operating officer. Good system managers improve service quality and give owners an opportunity to collect incremental revenue by charging residents for the service. “Managed Wi-Fi is absolutely necessary nowadays because it’s just too costly to manage internally,” he says.
CBX Connect monitors client networks with a new generation of AI-powered diagnostic tools. The systems not only alert engineers to problems in real time, without having to wait for a user’s service request, but also suggest preemptive measures to address potential problems before a failure occurs.
“We have a lengthy history that tells us what issues occur and what’s been done to fix those in the past; and AI allows us to draw from that knowledge base and get to a resolution quicker,” Sanders says. “That same AI is also looking at the data traffic on a property, and it’s recommending router changes, firmware changes and more. That allows us to be proactive, so we have very few devices go down, and when they do go down, we usually know what the issue is and how to address it faster.”
As technologies evolve and converge, increasing use of data centers, the Internet of Things and other platforms could change the way providers deliver internet to student housing, Sanders says.
“5G cellular is certainly coming into play and could become a disruptor in the industry,” Sanders observes. “5G could take us to a point where we don’t have to wire buildings as heavily as we do today to get the same speed.”
Best Practices
Developers, owners and operators can position their student housing communities to deliver cutting-edge connectivity for years to come by establishing a streamlined, flexible infrastructure ready to scale up as residents demand faster speeds. For an existing network, owners can install monitoring equipment to ensure their provider is delivering promised connection speeds and quality. If the setup is lacking, work with the provider or find a new one to achieve a more efficient connection.
CBX Connect advises developers to begin working with an experienced service provider or consultant in a project’s planning stages. Someone familiar with current systems and systems likely to be introduced over time can help the developer avoid designs and material selections that could limit connectivity options down the road.
Sanders recommends engaging a Wi-Fi designer during a project’s entitlement stage to establish coverage and access points along with other low-voltage systems. Diagnostic technology can be retrofitted to a property’s existing network connection to ensure its service provider is delivering the signal quality and connectivity needed.
Whether in new construction or retrofitting for high-speed internet, make sure the designer incorporates heat mapping and other Wi-Fi design tools that help to account for differences in building materials, anticipated peak loads and other variables affecting signal strength.
CBX Connect clients purchase and own their network hardware, enabling them to pay only for the equipment they need and so they can expand as needs change. The arrangement also gives CBX Connect engineers the direct and remote access they need to monitor and service every aspect of the client’s network, which is key to the provider’s near-constant up-time, eight-minute first-response time average and full resolutions to user tickets in about three hours.
Next Steps in Student Housing
Internet technology requires periodic updates and replacements, so owners should budget accordingly. Sanders suggests planning for a technology refresh every five years or so. An expert partner can guide capital outlays that optimize cost savings and system performance.
Simply put, student housing properties must be ready to provide a positive internet experience as connection expectations increase. Students are a demanding user group, and a property’s reputation for Wi-Fi dead spots, slow connections or outages can drive away renters.
Olson, the CBX Connect COO, reminds student housing owners to keep the resident experience in mind when choosing an internet partner.
“A lot of times, choosing a provider comes down to cost, but you should make sure the provider can check all the boxes and deliver an incredible resident experience,” he says. “You want a good value, but you have to service these properties and provide good internet. Otherwise, you are toast.”
— By Matt Hudgins. This article was written in conjunction with CBX Connect, a content partner of Student Housing Business.
For more information on becoming a Student Housing Business content partner, contact Rich Kelley.