The most likely reason is bandwidth, but it could be a computer issue related to a potential virus, spyware, or even because your computer does not have sufficient processoring power or RAM. The college has a 40 megabits (Mbit/s) connection; Residence Halls are allocated up to 35 Mbit/s, however our connection allows burst speeds up to 45 Mbit/s.

When the network traffic is extremely saturated (during peak hours), when a lot of people come back from class, you may find some of your programs (Internet-connectivity ones) either only work for a little bit and then quit, not open at all, or can be relatively slow.  Each program type is given a certain priority on our network. HTTP (browsing the Internet) is the #1 priority, so it will always work, even if it gets slow. Other services that have a higher priority than most are Instant Messaging, gaming, and other important network protocols such as IMAP /POP email access. Unfortunately we can't guarantee that these will always work just because they have a higher priority.

Peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, BitTorrent software, and piracy-promoting application have the lowest priority.

Internal, Elizabethtown on-campus networking (downloads or uploads) communications are not limited by bandwidth constraints from our facilities.