Not sure what it is yet, but something about the construction of the new Southwest Hall causes the building to totally block all Wi-Fi signals.
Ethan and I were over there today to check it out for our self. We went up to the top floor where we could easily see the powerfull tropos wireless access point just across the street. Even with good line of sight, the windows were totally killing the signal. I could not detect it at all. However if I step out on the roof even farther away from the access point, great signal. Even opening the windows wasn’t enough. You literally have to take off the screen before a decent signal is allowed through. Weird. Maybe it is the low-e glass or maybe it is the insulation but whatever it is, this new building totally sucks in the signal and kills it.
I have heard from the head resident of the building that even cell phone and radio signals are severly hampered as well. Even though we have sprint towers on campus, the signal is not good enough to make it into the building at all. Bummer. Or is that a good thing?