Ball State picked top WiFi campus in U.S.

Wireless Internet is rapidly becoming a standard feature of U.S. college campuses, according to a survey released this week by Intel.

The company's second annual "Most Unwired Campus" survey found Indiana's Ball State University to be the top WiFi school, thanks largely to its more than 600 access points spread over 600 acres.

Ball State students can access the Internet without wires from just about anywhere on campus, a trait shared by 74 percent of the 50 colleges named in the survey.

"Across the country, wireless campus networks are dramatically changing the way students, faculty and staff learn and work," said Intel researcher Richard Beckwith. "Wireless networks are connecting students and faculty to vital academic resources and overall creating a new and enriched social fabric on campus."

Rounding out the top 10 on Intel's survey are: Western Michigan University, Akron, Dartmouth, Carnegie Mellon, Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts, St. John's, Case Western, Rhode Island's Bryant University and Trinity University in San Antonio.

Copyright 2005 by United Press International