Virtual School Troubleshooting in the Home.

Weak Signal

 So, you child is learning virtually this fall and you are having technology issues that you just can't figure out. I want to provide some tips when you come across common issues.

Video call has issues connecting and staying connected

This is a common issue especially during peak times where everyone is connecting. There are some troubleshooting techniques I use when my video call is having issues. 

Is there anything else running on your computer?

I have solved many of these issues with simply asking the student to close any unnecessary activity on their computer. Many of the computers given to students are only powerful enough to do their school activities. For instance a video call with their class and the activity document the intructor has them following along with. I have come across tihs on many occasions where the student is playing a video game, streaming music or even streaming a movie while they are in the class. This will significantly affect the experience and they should close these activities in order to give the computer the power it needs to maintain the class activities.

Trouble Shooting

Inevidibly, there will sometimes be a bandwidth issue due to other factors on your home network or in the trunk lines during peak times. I have resolved this issue by turning off my video and hiding the video of anyone that I don't need to be looking at. This can significantly reduce the amount of bandwidth you are using and keeps your connected. Next, you can clear your browser cache by going to the setting in the browser, finding the setting to clear our cache. Finally, You can restablish your connection by restarting your computer. 

My computer isn't connecting to my Internet or my signal is weak?

There could be a couple different things going on here. It could be your signal is weak due to your physical location to the wireless router or it could be a hardware issue.

If you signal is weak, then consider moving closer to the wireless router in your home.This can be affected by distance from the router or the number of walls the signal needs to pass through. There are devices that can be purchased to expand your network coverages such as a Wirless Repeater.

Hardware Failure

It is possible that either your router or computer wireless card is not functioning properly. First, I would eliminate the wireless card on the computer but testing it on another wirless signal. This could be done by opening a hotspot on a phone nearby or heading to another physical location like a neighbor, local restaurant or family members. If the computer connect with their other wireless network then you know it is your router or router confiuration. If it is not working on another wireless access point, then there is an issue with the laptop configuration or the wireless card is bad. I would recommend contacting the school right away to get another device.

Rented Router from ISP

I recommend consumers always rent the wireless router from their internet provider. This usually costs between $3-$5 a month. This comes in really handy if your router were to fail, then you can just contact the service provider and they will swap it out for a new one.

Is the device powerful enough?

So, this is a touchy subject without coming off as recommending a device or criticizing a choice made by a school district. Let's get right down to it. School funding is not where it needs to be. Schools have been forced to purchase products that barely do the job and creates a dependency the system they puchased. 

Companies are offering VERY low prices on devices for something that does not come with an installed operating system. The operating system is actually running in the cloud and not on your local computer. The problem is that if that company experience any sort of issues that take the system down. Millions of students will be affected. 

This device is only powerful to ran the bare minimum of what they need to function in a synchronous environment. The video call and the one activity they are working on is all the computer will handle. Many students will want to stream music, play video games and even try to watch a movie while in class. The device simply can't handle this. 

I would recommend districts consider this when purching devices. A PC builds in this reduncy. If the one system you are using goes down, there is still a local operating system where the students can work outside of that system.