In mid-April, without any warning, the school Wi-Fi became inaccessible on students’ phones and laptops at IHS and LACS, which students quickly noticed. This had happened a couple times previously during the year, and initially, this instance was dismissed as a recurring problem with the crowded school Wi-Fi. However, as days passed without accessibility, it became clear that the Wi-Fi might be permanently locked for students.
The lack of Wi-Fi caused discontent within the student body, but despite our generation’s dependency on connection to the Internet, there was little outcry against the new policy itself. Instead, complaints have been directed towards the lack of communication from the administration to the students.
The real cause of the change to Wi-Fi has been hotly debated in the hallways and in classes. Explanations range from anticipation for increased Wi-Fi use from the Chromebooks next year to overcrowding the bandwidth, and even a response to inappropriate use in the library.
However, lead IHS Information Technology personnel Dominick Lisi asserted that the change is only temporary. The revision of the school Wi-Fi policy was due to “multiple network outages and significant speed delays,” said Lisi, which resulted in setbacks during instructional time.
According to a study done by the Technology Department, over a third of the bandwidth was occupied by students’ personal use, which in turn slowed tasks that are more important.
The ICSD Wi-Fi remains inaccessible by most students. However, some students have found an alternate way to connect to the Internet. They connected to the guest Wi-Fi, but rather than entering their student information, which does not work, they created a temporary account by submitting their full name, cellular number, and provider.
This, however, does not work for every phone, and students must repeat this process each day, as the method only allows a temporary Wi-Fi login account.
Nonetheless, not all hope for student-accessible Wi-Fi is lost. The improvements to the current plan are predicted to finish in July, meaning that students will once again have access to Wi-Fi in September. Students can look forward to a faster, improved connection, hopefully without the occasional outages that were experienced before the change. Despite the brief interlude in connectivity, the change will be beneficial in the long run.