on A switch that is serving 24 rooms died today.
Instead of replacing the switch we will upgrade the house to gigabit.
We will be there tonight.
Update
9:30 PM – We are done and everything should be working normally again. If there are any issues still, let us know via the contact form.
on Almost two years ago I posted some numbers about how many people in our student housing actually use gigabit-capable devices. Today I checked again – and honestly, it’s not the big breakthrough yet:
| Location | Dec 2023 | Sep 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geislingen | 25 % | 35 % | +10 |
| Albstadt | 53 % | 48 % | −5 |
| Sigmaringen | 33 % | 26 % | −7 |
Geislingen improved a lot, Albstadt dropped a little but is still on top, and Sigmaringen is now down to only 26 %. Hard to say if this is a real trend – the measurement happened during semester break, so the sample is smaller. But still, the direction is interesting.
We are also collecting routers that students left behind when moving out. The result? Not great: less than 5 % of these devices can even do 5 GHz Wi-Fi – and so they can’t handle gigabit properly.
Of course, if someone owns a good router, they don’t leave it behind. But still, it’s shocking how many people were using outdated hardware: old Fast Ethernet ports, no 5 GHz, weak Wi-Fi chips. No wonder the speeds suffer.
For us that means: more awareness needed! Either many students don’t know what their connection could really do – or maybe they just don’t need much internet at all. Apart from one building in Tübingen (we’re still waiting for the key), we’ve already put up our own posters in all 102 student housing buildings. Let’s see if that helps.
on Some of you are kind enough to leave your router behind when you move out, so other students in the dorm can use it. Of course, these are not always the newest devices – sometimes we even find very old ones.
To keep things organised, we started collecting the leftover routers together with the caretakers here in Tübingen at Fichtenweg. By now, about 25 devices have been gathered. Anything that does not support modern Wi-Fi or current encryption standards is sorted out.
The working devices are passed on – together with a matching network cable – to the “WHO Dorfrat” (student dormitory council). They distribute them to people who only need simple internet access and for whom an older router is still good enough.
What matters to us is that you have really good and stable internet in the dorm. The internet connection in your room almost never fails – if you have problems, it is usually the router or its settings. Just contact us and we’ll show you how to set up your router correctly. You should basically have nearly 100% availability.
A big thank-you goes to the caretakers, who have been very active in collecting the routers!
on This year went better than last time: at least two of us went to the Student Network Meeting (SNT) – last year it was only one person. Out of 12 possible members that’s still improvable, but already progress.
The trip itself was a real challenge. From Tübingen to Košice it’s about 880 kilometers. With the long journey, it was not easy to combine with studying and other commitments.
What excites us again and again: the great openness among everyone. Around 100 people from four countries came – most of them volunteer to provide good internet in their dorms and because they enjoy technology. The Slovak student community has always been strongly represented. With their shorter travel this time, they even arrived more rested.
Besides familiar faces, you meet new people every year. It’s fascinating to see how many things we have in common – but also what differences exist in structures and conditions.
Large student networks like AGDSN or Selfnet joined with more than ten people each. It’s impressive that we in Tübingen manage to run a stable network with so few people. My respect also goes to a French colleague from Brest, who spent almost 24 hours traveling to get here!
At the SNT people talk openly about everything: technology, experiences with vendors, support issues, and which devices are really worth buying again. It’s always helpful to hear the practical experiences of others.
We also learned a lot – from small details like special security seals to handling club clothing in terms of non-profit rules. And we could confirm our decision to use MikroTik as access switches. With Wi-Fi technology, however, there seems to be no common opinion – so we continue testing different vendors ourselves.
We stayed in the dormitories of our hosts from the PC-Club in Jedlíkova 9. Most slept in affordable twin rooms, which were part of four-person units with shower and toilet.
And a big thank you: AGDSN and Selfnet were even able to act as sponsors this year thanks to clever management – that’s really great and helps the whole event a lot!
For us it’s clear: at the latest next year we want to have uniform embroidered team clothing. It simply looks good, and everyone immediately knows which team we belong to.
The next SNT will take place very close to us – either in Stuttgart or Karlsruhe. Karlsruhe will celebrate its 30th anniversary, Stuttgart wants to present its new facilities. Maybe in two or three years we will even be ready to host an event again ourselves. We already managed it once in 2009 – so it’s about time!
The SNT 2025 in Košice was a great chance for us to stay in touch, learn new things, and look beyond our own horizon. Despite the long journey, it was absolutely worth it. We are already looking forward to seeing many familiar and new faces at next year’s meeting near us!
For more information about the Student Network Meeting, visit:
studentnetworks.eu/meetings/snt2025
on Also in 2025, the Tage der digitalen Freiheit (Days of Digital Freedom) will take place again – an open community event about technology, society, and digital self-determination. It happens on the weekend of July 26–27 at the Westspitze in Tübingen (Eisenbahnstraße 1) – just a short walk from the main train station.
The event is organized by the Chaos-Treff Tübingen, creating a space for exchange, ideas, and experiments beyond commercial interests.
What can you expect?
A diverse program with talks, workshops, and hands-on sessions – covering topics from digital rights and climate issues to technology and art. Open for everyone, free of charge, and community-driven.
When?
Saturday, July 26 and Sunday, July 27, 2025
Program starts at 11:00 AM on both days
Where?
Westspitze Tübingen, Eisenbahnstraße 1
More information:
tdf.cttue.de
And us?
Of course we from Netz-AK will be there too. This year without a booth – we admit it. Once again, no capacity. But we’ll drop by, listen, and join the discussion. Maybe next year we’ll finally bring a booth. Maybe.
Come by – it’s worth it.
See you at the Tage der digitalen Freiheit!
P.S.:
If you’re interested but not sure about just showing up, you can sign up as an elf. Elves help with small tasks like setting things up, giving info, or supporting parts of the program. It’s a nice way to get involved and meet people easily.
on In a very friendly and constructive conversation with the new head of the Housing Department, we learned yesterday that the Studierendenwerk currently only refers to the FAQ on its website when it comes to information about the Netz-AK and internet access in the dorms.
That is not much and does not match the agreements we made with the Studierendenwerk a few years ago.
In the future, there will again be an information sheet from us included with the rental contract, explaining where to find information and how to contact us.
Instead of just one of the many papers you get when you move in, you can also find us via posters in the dormitory hallways.
For the winter semester 2024, the Studierendenwerk had offered to design new posters for us and put them up in the dorms. The new design looks much better and more professional than our old green posters, which needed to be replaced.
However, in most of the dorms we visited, the new posters were not there. We also didn’t get confirmation from the Studierendenwerk that they were successfully put up. They assumed that the missing dorms would follow step by step.
So far, replacing the old green posters through the Studierendenwerk has mostly not been successful.
We are therefore ending the action “posters in all dorms for the winter semester by the Studierendenwerk” as unsuccessful in July 2025.
We have now created our own new posters based on the Studierendenwerk’s design and started putting them up ourselves.
Because of the missing information, many residents were not able to make full use of the internet connection available to them in the dorm.
Most people who contact us because of Wi-Fi problems use routers we have been advising against for years in our totorials. Only a small number of residents in dorms that already have gigabit internet use a router that can even make use of more than 10% of that speed.
We see a lot of potential to improve the flow of information in the future, thanks to some changes already made at the Studierendenwerk. That way, you can really enjoy what is probably the best internet connection you will privately use in the next ten years.
on Since July 2025, it’s official: Netz-AK Tübingen is a registered and recognized non-profit association. This means we’ve not only finalized our statutes, but also laid the organizational foundation to continue our work in a stable and reliable way.
Behind the association is a team focused on technology, networking, and digital infrastructure in Tübingen’s student residences – with expertise, commitment, and a clear focus on transparency and participation.
If you’re curious how we’re organized, how to get involved, or what we’re planning, you can find all the details here: Netz-AK Tübingen e.V.
Please note: All official information regarding the association will likely remain in German, as the legal framework for associations is defined in German law – and there is currently little demand for an English version in this context.
on The Network Working Group (Netz-AK) was founded in 2004 to improve the often unreliable internet in the student dorms at Fichtenweg. Back then, there was no proper network management. A few student tutors paid by the Studierendenwerk were responsible, but it didn’t work very well.
The dorms at Fichtenweg were likely connected by fiber optic cables already in the 1970s, as this was modern technology at the time.
The dorms on the Wanne hill were connected early on to what we call the WHO network – named after the Waldhäuser Ost area and its network.
At first, Netz-AK only worked in the WHO area. Later, a few small locations were added: one volunteer at Hartmeyerstraße and four to five volunteers in buildings of the former Hindenburg military base (now in the French Quarter), which were connected to the network after renovations in 2006.
After the student unions of Tübingen and Hohenheim merged, the network supported by Netz-AK grew significantly in 2014. It now covered a large area from Geislingen an der Steige through Hohenheim, Nürtingen, Reutlingen, and Tübingen to Albstadt and Sigmaringen. The number of managed connections increased from around 3,000 in Tübingen to over 5,500.
Even though we expected the team to grow with the network, the opposite happened – the team got smaller. The original WHO team was only joined by one member from the French Quarter. Still, we managed to keep the network running for over ten years with very limited resources.
Since 2022, things have improved thanks to internal changes at the Studierendenwerk. For the first time in years, we were able to do more than just keep things running.
We finally got the chance to make overdue purchases. We now also have access to the teilAuto car-sharing system.
Our cooperation with the Studierendenwerk’s IT department has improved a lot, and the new leadership is very supportive.
Our team in Tübingen has grown and now includes more active students again.
Since 2023, we’ve also been taking part in the annual Student Network Meetings (SNTs) again.
In 2024, we gained an active member in Hohenheim. In 2025, someone joined us in Albstadt.
In 2023 and 2024, we tested new hardware, which we finally decided to buy in 2025. The Studierendenwerk has now completed the purchase.
We also made many smaller but important improvements: we set up basic network monitoring, improved our backup strategy, and introduced a ticket system for support requests. All of this makes our work much easier.
In 2023, we founded our own association. We expect it to be officially recognized as a non-profit organization soon. At the same time, we are finalizing an agreement with the Studierendenwerk that will define our future cooperation.
Starting in June 2025, we will begin the final big step: installing the new hardware in the remaining 100 buildings. Two buildings have already been completed. About 275 switches still need to be installed.
For this, we urgently need more helpers. Even short-term help is very valuable and supports a network built for the future.
If you want to join us long-term, there are many exciting projects waiting. We can now finally start bringing Wi-Fi to the kitchen areas. We are also planning to introduce IPv6 and restructure the subnet system. Any kind of support is welcome.
There are also great opportunities for those who want to dive deeper: for example, by organizing workshops to teach other students about how our network works. Or by running your own nerdy research projects in computer networking and sharing your findings with the group.
on After we received the first report about connection problems yesterday at 1:35 PM, we started looking into what could be causing it.
One single report usually doesn’t mean a hardware failure on our side, because that would normally affect entire buildings.
During the night, two more people contacted us, so we were able to do more testing this morning.
From one of them, we couldn’t get any useful info because their hardware is very old, and the third person didn’t reply anymore.
At around 3:00 PM today, something seems to have happened that made the issue worse. Luckily, more people have reached out since then, so we now believe there really is a problem in Hohenheim.
While I’m writing this, we’re running different tests, and we’re getting ready to drive from Tübingen to replace the device if needed.
If your Wi-Fi issues are caused by your own old hardware, you’re welcome to live with it.
Everyone else shouldn’t have any problems – please always contact us right away if you do, so we can fix it.
Around 5:30 PM, replaced an old fiber module in Egilolfstraße just to be sure.
Did some more tests, but no results.
Probably witnessed an outage, but not sure.
Installed hardware for diagnostics.
Will run tests overnight and check again tomorrow.
Update Saturday 6 pm:
The diagnosis took the whole day.
We can confirm the outages on all 13 connections that were reported.
All our devices say they are working fine. The older part we replaced yesterday was probably not the cause, because the problem is still there.
That’s frustrating.
We are getting ready to go on site in Hohenheim tomorrow morning. We will either try to find the problem by checking everything again or replace all the equipment in building 49/51 and the connection to building 53.
Update Sunday 8:30 am: Planned arrival in Hohenheim at 10:30 am.
Update from the car on the way to Tübingen (Sunday 5:00 PM):
We replaced all possible hardware.
Egilolfstraße 49 and 51 now have gigabit internet.
Feel free to try our speed test: https://netz-ak.de/intern-speedtest/
We hope this fixed the problem – even though we couldn’t find the exact cause.
on In Heuberger-Tor-Weg 15 two switches probably did not survive the power outage.
If we can not revive them, we will exchange them today.
Update: The replacement of the broken switch was completed at 7:24 PM. Everyone is online again.
Thank you to the kind resident for the friendly words and the tea you gave me!