By Bailey Brammer | Staff Writer

Scheduled maintenance to AirBear, the Baylor University Wi-Fi network, will occur from 6 to 10 p.m. today.

According to an email sent by Baylor Information Technology Services, students will most likely experience a disruption in the network from 6 to 7 p.m., but testing will continue until 10 p.m.

Carl Flynn, director of marketing and communications for information technology and university libraries, said the purpose behind any outage has to do with safety or strengthening the network.

“We usually do these things for either security or stability,” Flynn said. “That’s the only reason we shut things down like this.”

Vicky Gerik, assistant vice president for client services at Baylor ITS, said the reason for tonight’s outage is to upgrade wireless routers that will affect AirBear.

While students’ personal devices will experience disruptions during the testing, there are computers on campus that will be unaffected.

“Any computer or device using a wireless connection will be affected,” Gerik said. “If you’re using a computer in the library, you’re on the Baylor Network, and the outage will not affect that.”

With fall break beginning Thursday, students such as Waco freshman Margaret Klausmeyer find the outage scheduling for this time to be a convenience because a majority of students will not be on campus this weekend.

“I don’t think a lot of people will be here. All my friends are going home before 5 p.m.,” Klausmeyer said.

Dallas freshman Grace Gunnin said she agrees that most students may not be affected by the testing, but for students still on campus, there are ways to get around an AirBear outage.

“There are probably going to be some people on campus who are pretty upset,” Gunnin said. “I always set up a hot spot on my phone if I have problems with AirBear.”

Baylor ITS encourages students to check the status of the outage by calling 254-710-3696.