Numerous students complain about the school’s WiFi daily. There’s no doubt that school WiFi is unreliable at times, but people are asking why it’s bad and if there’s anything the staff can do to change it.
School WiFi has hundreds of students connected to it at once, causing a traffic jam. Using many devices such as computers, phones, TVs, and projectors makes the WiFi slow. Holten Mayfield and Mike Jaremko are the I.T. guys who work at our school. They are seen in the halls, working on any kind of electrical things in the school.
Schools use wireless access points. If the name isn’t obvious, these points are where the WiFi is connected to the devices. “There are 15 access points scattered throughout the school.” Holten Mayfield said.
“These access points cost anywhere from $250-$300, depending on the device,” Jaremko said. “There are also labor costs that play a part, but if we are fixing an access point, it’s just the cost of the device.” When installing access points, doing WiFi testing is beneficial. When doing WiFi testing, they determine where the “hot” and “cold” areas are. Hot areas are where the WiFi runs the best, and the cold areas are where the WiFi has trouble reaching wireless devices.
“It might not be the WiFi,” Mayfield said, “the WiFi runs at a good enough speed for the entire school, but getting it to the entire school is like trying to walk through concrete.” This is a reasonable explanation for why the internet seems to be so unpredictable.
“We are currently working on hard-wiring all of the computers in the school,” Jaremko said. Hard-wiring the computers will help with a more direct connection to the internet. Fewer devices being connected to the WiFi will have less load on the access points.
“If cadets can report where the bad areas are, we can work toward fixing it,” Mayfield said
“They can also notice which Chrome books are old,” said Jaremko. Some of the Chromebooks that are used are 8-9 years old and that can play a part in how well they connect to the internet. The really old ones have barrel charging ports. Cadets can report which ones are old so they can be replaced and have better connections.
The school’s connection to the internet is spotty and definitely not the greatest, but the I.T. staff are working their hardest to make the WiFi work.
