During Fall Weekend, 10 wireless routers were removed from Barbour Hall leaving residents without wireless internet access, Doug Wilkinson, a network technology manager at Computing and Information Services, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.
By Thursday, seven routers had been anonymously returned, one of which was non-functioning. The six working routers were re-installed and are operational, Wilkinson wrote.
On Oct. 13, after the routers went missing, Community Director Marc Lo wrote in an e-mail to Barbour residents obtained by The Herald, "We would very much like the routers returned so as to avoid the significant cost of replacement." He also wrote that it was unclear "whether this act was one of thievery or tomfoolery."
In the e-mail, Lo urged Barbour residents to return the routers to a box, "no questions asked," writing, "Any reports or information on what happened are similarly welcome."
Lo wrote that the opportunity to return the routers would be guaranteed through 9 a.m. Friday. After that point, the Office of Residential Life "will begin exploring other means of reparation," Lo wrote.
Wilkinson wrote that an additional four routers should be in operation by sometime next week at the latest, whether the original routers are returned or Residential Life is required to purchase new ones. Senior Associate Dean of Residential and Dining Services Richard Bova said his office would pay for new routers and related costs if necessary.
Bova said that whoever took the routers harmed themselves as well as other Barbour residents. Before the lost wireless routers are put back in use or replaced, some Barbour residents will have to use a wired connection to access the Internet.
