Bad School Wi-Fi?

There has been an increasing number of complaints from students about the school Wi-Fi this 2022-2023 school year. Many classrooms supposedly receive very poor connection, as neither personal devices nor school-issued Chromebooks seem to be working consistently in many locations of the school. This seems to be a somewhat new development as well, considering the state of the Internet connection prior to this school year.

As well as anecdotal evidence of any and all devices failing to connect to the school-managed Wi-Fi, the poor cell reception in the area has long been notorious at Aliso Niguel due to the rumors alleging the use of cell blockers. On top of that, classroom use of devices is only becoming more prevalent, and if these complaints continue, they will prove a huge hindrance to many students’ education.

Sania Mirarefin (11) explains, “The school Chromebook sometimes doesn’t connect during classes, so there is more work to do after school.” 

Not only that, teachers have not allowed students to use devices such as phones during class, leaving no options for students.

Some causes of this might be the internet provider that is used by Aliso Niguel and unknown by virtually everyone working at the school, which could be impacting both the cellular and Wi-Fi connections negatively or technical issues. However, this cannot be known because, as aforementioned, very few people get involved in the intricacies of how the Wi-Fi works at the school. Another cause might be the heavy influx of freshmen that is larger than anticipated by the school. This unexpected number of incoming students may be too much for the servers to handle, causing the Internet function for all students and even staff members to decrease. 

Another likely cause of this is the school’s geographic location, as Mrs. Vernaza, the Aliso Niguel Guidance Clerk, informs, “The school’s location at a geographic low point might contribute to the Internet and Wi-Fi’s condition.”

Certain students and staff maintain that there is no change to the school’s Internet quality this year. They have not experienced any differences during this school year regarding their Internet connection. However, if any students at all have issues with their Internet connection during school hours, it is the responsibility of the school because of the increasing reliance on using the Internet in classes. Students will be unable to complete their assignments and follow the lessons if the only avenue for accessing the very necessary Internet works very inconsistently.

Especially following the creation of new programs, particularly regarding the new Wolverine+, they emphasize the underlying irony of this issue. In one distinct Advisory period at the beginning of the year, students were required to watch a presentation about people, specifically teenagers, being addicted to their mobile devices. Directly after this was the introduction of the new method of scheduling tutorial periods known as Wolverine+, which involved the use of electronic devices. Between the school’s encouragement of further reliance on devices academically, accusations of screen addiction, and the technical decline of the Internet condition inside the school, something needs to be done to alleviate some of these issues only contributing to pressure on students.