Recently, there have been frequent Wi-Fi outages on school grounds, leaving students unable to open assignments or tests during class. Schools have come to deeply embrace using technology over computers for classwork with researching, assignments, and homework submission. With Chromebooks now being essential for everyday classes, the Wi-Fi’s issues and slow loading makes it difficult for students to complete assignments on Canvas.
From the start of the year to present day, the Wi-Fi has remained unstable due to issues with the San Mateo Union High School District’s main server getting through to specific locations. Mills students have reported that the Wi-Fi seems to perform worse in specific locations like the math hall, leaving students in those areas dissatisfied.
Madeline Batshoun (9) says, “I noticed that it’s [the Wi-Fi] kind of worse in the math hall, and it barely works there.”
Gabe Glynn, Mills Tech Support Specialist, clarified, “Every room has its own Wi-Fi access point. Wi-Fi access points can host between 60 to 100 devices for access points.” Glynn debunks the rumors, explaining Wi-Fi access points are in each classroom.
Though, not just students were affected as teachers also share their mutual annoyance with the Wi-Fi. Math teacher Nils Headley explains, “I am extremely frustrated because it happens most frequently during testing, a very stressful time, and students look to me as the person to solve it. When I can’t, we’re all feeling like, ‘why are we even here?’”
The constant malfunctioning of the Wi-Fi leaves both students and teachers in frustration from how slow it takes to load assignments on Canvas and how teachers may need to plan lessons to accommodate these situations. The slow Wi-Fi makes it harder for students to load assignments or tests on school Chromebooks.
Batshoun says, “It takes forever to load.” Students continue to show their frustration of the slow loading of signing into Chromebooks and waiting for it to load with several complaints that can be overheard in class.
Glynn assures students that “it’s been fixed now,” referring to the Wi-Fi issues.
Modern-day schools continue to grow reliant on needing technology for schoolwork, especially seen in Mills High School when using school chromebooks are a daily necessity. Despite setbacks from the constant Wi-Fi issues, students and teachers continue to stay connected even when the network isn’t.
