At the end of last year, The Crimson White upgraded to an all-new, interactive website. It allows readers to comment on stories and share them through e-mail, Facebook and Twitter.

Unfortunately, on this campus, the print version of The CW still reigns supreme.

Why? Because no student will ever pick up a print copy from a newsstand only to read: “The page cannot be displayed.” (Except today, of course.)

However, that’s exactly what students are frequently forced to read when they log onto UA ResNet.

Staying connected on ResNet requires continuously disconnecting from and reconnecting to the network, moving around dorm rooms, or hardwiring a computer into a wall outlet. That is, unless ResNet is in a particularly bad mood and simply goes out for hours.

Limited access to The CW is obviously not the worst casualty of this problem. It is instead the quizzes, homework assignments and eLearning activities that are disrupted or cannot be accessed at all as a result of our unstable Internet connection.

Sure, students can go to the library, but sometimes they don’t have time before their deadline approaches. Plan ahead, we are told. But it is impossible to plan a schedule around a wireless network that randomly shuts down.

Our campus, as well as most other college campuses and much of the world, is Internet-centric. Classes rely heavily on the Web for research, posting grades and assignments, quizzes and homework. Being able to access the network conveniently and reliably, therefore, is essential to being able to complete assignments timely and accurately.

Instead, ResNet is so unstable that online tests and quizzes often get interrupted after they have already been started, preventing students from answering the required number of questions within the given time window.

Contrast ResNet with the UA Public Wireless network that, although still spotty in some buildings, is generally much more reliable. If the University can construct a fairly functional wireless network for most of campus, why can’t it build one for the dorms?

After all, housing fees are approaching $4,000 per semester for some. For that amount of money, housing should be able to construct a wireless network that can serve every dorm adequately. Or at least provide Internet that is more reliable than what I can get at my home in Atmore, Ala., during major hurricanes.

When ResNet is working, it is actually pretty fast. It’s just a setback when web surfers have to pause every two minutes to reconnect to the network.

This, compounded with the fact that the University has apparently banned the use of personal wireless routers, definitely makes wireless browsing difficult, and often leaves me screaming at my computer screen.

At least when we could bring routers, we could have a stable connection of our own. I’m not sure why the University threw up technological hurdles to bring those connections down, because ultimately they were taking the burden of Internet connectivity off of their substandard system.

So the only option left is to use a wire to connect to the wall outlet, which is okay for tests, but not okay if you are, say, trying to do an online homework assignment with classmates in a common area or, God forbid, just trying to read the news and surf different websites while watching TV in the living room.

Besides, what is this, 1999? Wi-Fi is available everywhere — in Starbucks, in airports, on airplanes. Students who come to Alabama have a right to expect it will be available here, too, especially given the Internet’s multitude of academic uses and the University’s decision to incorporate those uses into most classes.

So the ultimate solution is for the campus to hold both of its wireless networks to the same standard — make ResNet as good as UA Public Wireless, and then expand the reach and availability of both. I am not an expert about how to do that type of thing, but it seems like if we can have good Internet on some parts of campus, we should be able to have it everywhere on campus.

In the meantime, it would be nice if I could bring my own router back, and if I could hook up my wireless printer.

Tray Smith is the opinions editor of The Crimson White. His column runs on Friday.