UMass Amherst Information Technology has launched a new real-time Wireless Availability and Status Map designed to make campus Wi-Fi network information more visible and easier to navigate. The map allows students, faculty, and staff to quickly check whether a building is experiencing a known outage, maintenance activity or other wireless service disruption, helping the campus community stay informed when issues arise.

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The wireless status map will continue to be updated as UMass IT gathers feedback and expands visibility into campus wireless service. Status map integrations with Canvas and TopHat are planned for the Fall 2026 semester.

UMass IT introduced the status map during an April 8 presentation to the Student Government Association, where IT leadership responded to student feedback, shared wireless improvement updates, and highlighted ways students can contribute to future improvements.

To increase campus awareness of the new service, IT Student Ambassadors and staff will demo the status maps at Founders Day 2026 on Wednesday, April 29. UMass students will also be invited to share their feedback through a survey about campus Wi-Fi.

The new system, developed by Tom Kelleher, network specialist on the IT Network Automations and Platform Team, with website integration support from IT Communications Team member Tom Howe, faced its first test on April 10 when a brief campus power interruption affected several buildings and disrupted wireless service. The incident showed the map’s value not only as a public-facing resource but as a tool for internal teams during service disruptions.

During the response, the map gave UMass IT staff and the campus emergency operations a real-time view of which buildings were still experiencing wireless impacts, which helped teams quickly identify affected areas and support restoration efforts. According to Ben Brown, associate chief technology officer of infrastructure, IT teams restored service across affected buildings in about 90 minutes, including the time it took staff to return to campus after the workday to help bring systems back online.

“Reliable Wi-Fi is such an important part of student life and the broader campus experience, and improving it continues to be a priority for our teams at UMass IT,” said Monica Kane, associate vice chancellor for information technology and deputy CIO. “We created the Wireless Status Map to increase transparency about campus WiFi, and it was encouraging to see it prove useful so quickly during Friday’s power outage.”

The new Wireless Availability and Status Map page can be found on the IT website at https://www.umass.edu/it/connect/status.