Campus Wifi Renovation Slated for Summer 2026

The Elmhurst University Board of Trustees approved a $300,000 campus-wide Wifi upgrade at their March 2026 meeting to improve services. The work on the Wifi system will begin this summer.

Desiree Chen, senior director of communications and external relations, said that the upgrade is part of the university’s ongoing efforts to address student needs and general student feedback.

The Leader reached out to communications for more information. The Office of Information Services, which provides technology and connectivity services for EU, chose not to share more information.

Wifi troubles have been a perennial issue for students and staff on campus. These technical issues include difficulties connecting to the “Bluejay Wireless” network, slow connection, and experiencing problems that not even the IT department has been able to figure out.

Sophomore Kaedin Gillie said that when he tries to connect to the Wifi on his phone, he is asked for a “CA certificate,” which, according to the website DigiCert, is a certificate authority that is a trusted organization that issues digital certificates to websites, businesses, and individuals. The certificate authority verifies a website’s domain and the organization behind it.

“I thought for a long time it was because I forgot my password or something, but once I changed my password recently and tried to get in, it still didn’t work.” Gillie said. “I realized my password wasn’t the problem — it’s how my actual device communicates with the internet.”

Gillie said he brought his device to IT and they were not able to solve the problem either.

Sophomore Emma Moats has also been having trouble with the Wifi after she changed her password. She assumed it was because everyone was trying to get on the Wifi at the same time, but she was not able to connect any of her devices for at least five days.

Moats could not do any of her assignments without connecting to a hot spot, which made doing her work take a lot more time than usual. Moats went to IT, who were able to help her get back onto the Wifi, but she still felt frustrated. 

“I hope with the Wifi upgrade we have less times where the Wifi goes completely out because I need to get my work done for class,” Moats said. “We use our computers for almost everything, so it’s really inconvenient.”