Students at SUNY Canton and SUNY Potsdam can now upload, download and stream faster than ever before for recent upgrades at both campuses.

The colleges recently completed upgrades and began offering Apogee's ResNet for free Wi-Fi in all of the residence halls on both campuses. The company is the largest provider of residential Internet solutions in higher education.

The new connection is faster and more stable than previous years, according to Kyle A. Brown, Chief Information Officer at both SUNY Canton and SUNY Potsdam.

"The upgrade helps us stay ahead technologically as we seek to recruit new students who may be accustomed to faster Internet speeds," Brown said. "It also allows us to maintain our attractiveness as a housing option for returning students."

Students at both colleges now have access to:

• High-speed networks with greater mobility, unrestricted access and bandwidth.

• Wall-to-wall wireless access that extends to more common areas, including laundry and lounge rooms.

• Around-the-clock network support for all student devices including desktops, laptops, PDAs and DVRs.

• A dedicated full-time Apogee coordinator to provide on-site student support.

Brown said both colleges entered the agreement together and were able to leverage a shared contract. As an added benefit, students no longer need to purchase any equipment to broadcast or connect to Wi-Fi services in their buildings.

"We wanted this upgrade to improve the virtual resources available to our students," said Molly A. Mott, SUNY Canton dean of academic support services and instructional technologies. "Better, more reliable connection speeds help students access their learning materials from the residence halls."

SUNY Potsdam is also offering online classes and many instructors use online supplements to their classroom-based courses.

"SUNY Potsdam is proud to partner with our neighboring campus, SUNY Canton, to offer Apogee in the residence halls for our students. Students have told us that high-speed networks and wireless access are among the most important resources that we can offer to help them be successful in their academic pursuits," said Director of Residence Life Eric Duchscherer.

"It's 100 percent better than last year," said Matthew J. Spencer, a SUNY Canton Sports Management major from Gouverneur who lives in Kennedy Hall. "There are fewer issues connecting and staying connected and there is no lag time for online games."

Apogee provides residential Internet services for several SUNY Institutions. In addition to SUNY Canton and SUNY Potsdam, the company began partnerships with SUNY Delhi and SUNY Cobleskill this fall.

"We are honored to welcome the addition of these prestigious schools amongst our established SUNY partnerships," said Chuck Brady, chief executive officer of Apogee in a press release. "We believe that our latest clients, like their SUNY peers, will come to rely on Apogee's commitment to technological excellence to lay the foundation for their students' academic success and quality of life."