Remote Learning Technology Requirement

Meeting the Technology Requirement for Remote Learning

As stated in the Technology Requirements for Remote Learning Policy, students must have access to an adequate computer and sufficient internet connection.

Checking your connectivity

  • We recommend that students use speedtest.net (or some other tool for checking internet speed and patency) for the location(s) that they plan to attend class from. (Note that “latency” may be reported as “ping” or similar.)
  • Speed should be calculated per person. Plan for the maximum number of people who will need to be online at a given time and divide the reported bandwidth by that number for your estimate.
  • If your speeds are particularly low, you may want to perform the test when only one person is online to get a good estimate.

Additional tips for reliable internet

  • Wired internet connections (cable internet, fiber-based internet, etc.) tend to be reliable, subject to local events or provider problems. Consumer-oriented connections tend to have bandwidth and usage caps designed for small family use.
  • Terrestrial cellular internet connections may experience degraded reliability based on location, distance to tower, or seasonal foliage/snow cover, and may have smaller usage caps.
  • Terrestrial point-to-point wireless connections (microwave, infrared, laser, etc.) tend to be reliable over short distances if properly installed, and may experience degradation based on weather (rain/snow).
  • Satellite wireless connections tend to have high latency (500-700ms), tend to have limited upload bandwidth, may have smaller usage caps, and may experience degradation due to weather (rain/snow), or due to local foliage.