The Netflix video-streaming service and smartphones are
the two biggest drains on campus bandwidth, according to a report on residential networks (ResNet).
Netflix was named the biggest content threat to bandwidth
capacity by 88% of the IT, housing, and business officers who participated in
the State of ResNet 2018 Report, while smartphones were listed as the largest
consumers of bandwith by 73% of respondents.
The smartphone percentage was an 11% increase over the
2017 report, with desktop computers and laptops finishing second (65%) and smart
TVs in third (59%). At the same time, online learning tools and interactive
digital textbooks were considered a threat by 33% and 14% of respondents,
respectively.
Almost every respondent said their institution viewed
“high-performing” ResNet as essential to attracting and keeping students on
campus. Ninety-six percent of housing administrators said quality ResNet was “very
important,” while 92% of IT respondents and 90% of business officers said the
same thing.
At
the same time, 41% of the respondents admitted their schools were shaping and
limiting bandwidth, up 10% from the year before. There was also a double-digit
increase in blocking activities such as peer-to-peer sharing and music
downloading, from 34% in 2017 to 44% in 2018.