When roaming Ethernet access became available to all Harvard undergraduates at the start of the year, University techies heralded the change as revolutionary.

But five months after the College delivered on its long-time promise to let students plug their computers into almost any Ethernet jack on campus, most agree that the new system isn't getting much use.

"Most students aren't taking advantage of roaming Ethernet yet," says Paul A. Gusmorino '02, formerly a co-chair of the Undergraduate Council's subcommittee that dealt with roaming Ethernet.

Administrators are hesitant to say definitively how many students are using the new technology until they have the results of the upcoming Undergraduate Computer Survey, but they acknowledge that they haven't noticed a massive number of users roaming around campus.

"I don't know that I really know that much about how much the students are using it," says Leverett House Master and technology guru Howard Georgi '67-'68. "I find it very convenient."

Part of the reason for the lackluster usage, says Harvard's coordinator for residential computing Kevin S. Davis '98, is that outside of dorm rooms, there just aren't many other places for students to roam.

Although students can connect to the Harvard network from any jack in their Houses, there are only a handful of roaming jacks in Lamont Library, and none in classrooms or popular study places such as Loker Commons or House dining halls.

Davis says plans are in the works to wire a variety of additional public spaces, including Loker and Widener Library.