Williston is experiencing many tech problems at the start of this year, but the Technology department is aware and working hard to fix them.
Teachers and students are complaining about Stylus and Wi-Fi issues, bugs which takes time to fix, and impacts student’s abilities to learn, as much of what is done at Williston is tech centered. Teachers have reported problems with projectors.
Carter Cleary, a day student from Westhampton, Mass., has experienced and witnessed tech issues firsthand.
“My Surface pen broke in the first week of school,” he said. “There was no solution for three class days which made me realize how heavily we rely on Styluses. I also know that college counseling was without Wi-Fi and had to connect to Tandem’s.”
Carter believes there are more tech troubles this year than last year.
Alex Landon, a day student junior, noticed similar issues with the Wi-Fi.
“This year I had a lot of issues with the Wi-Fi on my computer and phone; last year I only experienced bad Wi-Fi on my phone, but now I experience bad Wi-Fi on my Surface too,” he added. “The worst spots on campus are the Athletic Center and the Chapel.”
Alex, who, like Carter, has had his stylus “randomly disconnect,” believes Wi-Fi coverage is the most pressing technology difficulty on campus.
Although last year, most Stylus complications could be solved by changing the battery or asking for a new tip, the new Styluses do not have a battery, and the tip has so far not been a problem. According to Microsoft Support, the only solution to a Stylus crisis other than charging it is replacing it.
William Short, the Head of the Technology Department, considers, like Alex, the most pressing tech issues to be the Wi-fi, as well as faulty classroom projectors.
“The two issues that we consider to be top priority right now in the IT Services department are Wi-Fi connectivity in student and faculty residential spaces, and inconsistent performance of Wireless Display Adapters, the devices teachers use to project in classroom spaces,” he told The Willistonian.
Short and his team have already taken many steps towards fixing these problems.
“We have identified and repaired over a dozen damaged cable runs since I began in July, and have proactively made adjustments to infrastructure, particularly in Reed, to ensure that data transmission at the cabling level remains consistent and error-free,” he explained.
Cables are the medium through which information typically moves from one device to another. When cables are damaged, devices can lose connectivity, transfer data slower, and produce low quality or distorted video, as seen in the projectors in Schoolhouse and Reed.
Short offers many solutions to fix Wi-Fi connectivity.
“Make sure to keep all your devices up to date on the most recent versions of Windows, iOS, Android, etc. I know people get tired of doing updates, but they really go a long way in ruling out software bugs that could be impacting your experience,” he added. “Also, make sure that any VPN (Virtual Private Network) software on your device is disabled for the Williston Wi-Fi network.”
Short explains that most stylus issues can be fixed relatively easily.
“More than 90% of the tickets we have had this school year regarding the Surface Pen 2 have been solved by running updates and restarting the paired computer,” he said.
For any problems that cannot be resolved, Short urges everyone to visit IT services below Memorial Hall to check for possible hardware malfunctions. The IT services department is open seven days a week and can resolve any Surface, Wi-fi, OneNote, or Stylus problems.
