Our Internet connectivity is made possible by two components. We access the Internet through a gateway provided by a consortium of higher education institutions in North Carolina known as the North Carolina Research and Education Network or NCREN. The nearest gateway site for Davidson is a connection point, called a “point of presence” or “POP,” in downtown Charlotte. The gateway connectivity speed is being upgraded 50%, from 42 megabits per second (mbps) to 62 mbps. Since the POP is in Charlotte, we also have to purchase connectivity from there to the Davidson Campus. Our top speed over this connection, provided by a subsidiary of Duke Energy, is currently 45 mbps. After the upgrade, the highest potential speed from here to the POP will be one gigabit per second. Supporting the enhancements are new signaling equipment from DukeNet and a higher capacity router for our Network Operations Center.

Of course, these speeds are largely theoretical. Once the traffic enters the gateway at the Charlotte POP, it is subject to all of the service demands of the global Internet. In most cases, a Davidson user’s perceived experience of speed will be determined not so much by the bandwidth that the College has purchased but by the effective speed of the hosting site. This perceived experience of speed can be explained with a quick “March Madness” scenario. When the Davidson fans all over the world check the tournament scores on espn.com, along with all of the fans of all of the other teams, this worldwide usage contributes far more to the perception of a “fast” website than does the amount of bandwidth available on the Davidson network. Our Internet access enhancements help ensure the best shot at a good experience.