Most lab computers aren't running several other apps in the background or system tray. If you reduce these on your machine, you might be surprised the difference it can make. However, since our perceptions of the performance of the Internet include many parameters, our conclusions are highly subjective. It could be faster or slower based upon how many computers are currently sharing the path out of the lab or dorm room. The network structure looks like a tree.
Any branch provides a potential freeway or congestion point.
You do not currently pay any fee for Internet access from your dorm room. Ball State computer resources such as many BSU Library resources have been deployed and configured as such. There may be resources meant for local access and not available from the outside because of security or license restrictions. Housing, followed by the rest of the University, has restricted the use of high bandwidth applications such as Napster which have been detrimental to the overall operation of the network. A restriction might be necessary when an application seriously limits the use of other applications by monopolizing the available bandwidth.