University of Alaska incident
Skarland Wi-Fi Degraded Performance
University of Alaska experienced a minor incident on January 22, 2026 affecting UAF Campus Connectivity, lasting 4d 12h. The incident has been resolved; the full update timeline is below.
Affected components
Update timeline
- investigating Jan 22, 2026, 04:25 AM UTC
We have received reports that the wireless networks in the Skarland residence hall are experiencing intermittent functionality and frequent disconnects. The OIT Networking team has been notified for investigation, and we will made further updates as new information is available, and at the beginning of the business day (8:00AM) tomorrow. Thank you for your patience during the resolution of this issue!
- monitoring Jan 22, 2026, 04:52 PM UTC
The OIT Networking team implemented a fix to the Skarland Wi-Fi at approximately 1:00AM this morning, and it is currently being monitored for stability. Please report any continuing issues with connectivity in the area; we will make another update at end-of-day today (5:00pm) or if the situation changes. Thank you for your patience during the resolution of this issue!
- monitoring Jan 23, 2026, 03:25 AM UTC
After discussing the effectiveness of the initial fix with users experiencing Wi-Fi issues in Skarland, OIT Networking has implemented a secondary fix and will be monitoring the stability of connections following this potential solution. We encourage Skarland residents to report any continued issues as usual to the NTS service desk, and if submitting a ticket via email or support portal, please make note of the room number where the incident is occurring. We will make another update by end-of-day (5:00PM) tomorrow, or as new information becomes available. Thank you again for your time and patience!
- resolved Jan 26, 2026, 05:00 PM UTC
The OIT Networking team has resolved the issue with the Skarland Wi-Fi connectivity and determined the fix to be stable. Thank you again for your patience during the resolution of this issue!
- postmortem Feb 11, 2026, 07:32 PM UTC
Skarland Hall WiFi Outage Problem Impact Analysis Event Occurrence: 12 January 2026 17:00 # Background At UAF Campus Dorms, OIT Network Operations provides wireless and wired services via Hospitality access points installed in each dorm room. Providing an improved wireless signal and higher port density to residents in the dorms has been a priority that we have achieved with Hospitality WAP’s. # Break Down of the Problem On Jan 12, 2026 we started receiving reports of WIFI drops from students in the Skarland Hall, and the issues continued until Jan 22, 2026 when we found the root cause of the network disruptions.The initial reports involved residents not being able to remain connected to the wireless network after a period of time, ranging from 15 minutes to 45 minutes of authentication. Wired devices remained unaffected. Once we started receiving a higher number of reports with the same symptoms, and after our initial troubleshooting focused on individual cases, we moved to investigate a network-wide disruption issue, not only individual access points or users_._ # Target State / Goal WiFi service should be available to customers 24/7 except during pre-defined maintenance windows. # Root Cause Analysis It was determined that a resident on the 3rd floor had installed their own WIFI extender, causing network-wide disruption to the local Skarland Hall users. Two issues were noted, wireless interference and more severely, the device was also causing intermittent network bridging between wired and wireless networks. Once we identified the likely device to be causing the issues, we shut down the WAP to which it was connected, and the network experience was reported to return to normal. Further follow up was conducted with the user to remove the device from the network and ensure they would not reinstall the device. Upon re-enabling the in-room access point, network stability remained. # Develop Countermeasures We will continue to work closely with Res Life to inform students of acceptable use of the network. # Implementation of Countermeasures Currently, adequate countermeasures are in place. While we cannot control the behavior of users, nor the configuration of third party network equipment, network use policy allows networking to both investigate and disable interfering devices that are operated by network users. # Follow Up / Review Further action will be taken if the error reoccurs.