Introduction

Hello everyone and welcome to the first Tech Report for the 2021-2022 school year!  For those of you unfamiliar, every month or every other month I will create a report on issues, improvements, etc. related to Technology at HAST.  As we have already seen, this year is “different” despite students back the building.  As recent as July it looked as though we would be back in the building, unmasked if vaccinated, full time learning as we had pre-covid.  Then the delta variant got worse.  Though we are in the building, we are masked, socially distanced, and have dividers on our tables to help prevent illness.  There is much uncertainty as we move forward as a society, as individuals, and as a school; however, it is so nice to have students back in the building this year.  I am hopeful we can continue to stay in person learning and give these kids a sense of normalcy they have lost during his pandemic.

With all that said, there have been many improvements made at the end of last year and over the summer.  I will highlight these things below as well as discuss a number of issues we have faced and continue to face as I write this report.

Improvements

Sharp Boards

At the end of last year, we went from 15 teachers have Sharp Boards to every single teacher in the building having a sharp board.  We also have two in the weight room, two in the main office, one in the basement hallway for Media class, and one in my office.  This has been something teachers have requested for a while, but we were not able to afford until we received Esser funding (COVID grant). 

The new Sharp Boards are different from the old as they are lighter, contain a 4K screen and 20 points of touch as opposed to the 10 points of touch on the old one.  The new stands are much easier to push around and contain a slot to place keyboard and mouse, unlike the old one.  The processors are pretty equal as the new ones have a new Ryzen 5 compared to an old i7 on the old model. 

Despite this, there are some things about the newer ones that are not as good as the old.  I will address the sound issues below under issues. 

I have had a few teachers express they liked their old ones better.  A couple notes on that:

1. These were recommended by Sharp as the new model they are pushing in schools.
2. If we had gone with the old models, we would not have them right now as they are on back order with a wait time of close to a year. 
3. I was told the major difference between the two models was the lack of a computer built into the Sharp screen itself.  The old ones had a computer built into the screen as well as an attached computer.  The new ones simply have an attached computer. 

Taking these things into consideration, I made the decision to go with the boards we received.  Overall I believe most people are happy with their boards. 

Access Points

Another thing updated at the end of last year were the access points.  We replaced our five year old Aerohive (Extreme Networks) access points with newer model Extreme access points capable of Wi-Fi 6, or 802.11 ax.  This was a good upgrade and should improve things in the long term; however, there have been issues so far as we are waiting on a new core switch along with stacking cables to improve the connection between our switches.  I discuss our Wi-Fi issues below under Issues. 

New Sound System

After many years of poor sound and very poor speaker placement in the gym, we had a new sound system installed.  The system is much improved as the speakers are placed in a way where all portions of the gym are covered and you do not have sound directly pointed at the floor.  It is also extremely easy to use.  Mrs. Hartz is very happy with the quality.

New Tech for Teachers

All teachers received new laptops last year and new iPads with Apple Pencils.  This has been a goal of mine every four to five years to upgrade teachers.  We have been very fortunate to be able to keep up with this goal.  In addition to this, we have document cameras available for staff to use as well as portable speakers to enhance their voices while wearing masks. 

New Phones

All staff are now upgraded to the newest Allworx phone.  We had slowly upgraded office staff and some teachers over the last few years, but everyone who was on an old Allworx phone received an upgrade over the summer. 

New Web Filter

Over the summer I tried to configure a new on premise web filter for students to replace the existing one we had.  Lightspeed insisted our old one was in need of replacement and their relay app was unable to fully filter google searches on iPads.  After spending a month with Lightspeed Technical support and their inability to get our on premise filter up and going, I reached out to Securly to learn more about their student safety system.  Not only did they say I could be up and running in a few days, but their product offered much more than Lightspeed’s.  I made the decision to switch and we were set up the next day.  No more worrying about iOS updates breaking the web filter.  Securly is entirely cloud based and also monitors email.  It specifically looks for student danger through their emails and searches.  It doesn’t just focus on filtering.  So far the filter appears to be doing a good job and requires far less maintenance.  I am happy with the switch we made. 

Issues

Issue 1: Slow Wi-Fi

Since the start of the school year, there has been a noticeable decline in Wi-Fi speeds throughout the building.  Websites are taking longer to load.  This decline started as soon as traffic increased on the network.  We pay for 750 Mbps, but this is a full speed hard wired connection.  When connected by ethernet directly into a switch, devices typically get around 500 Mbps, which is very good.  On Wi-Fi, I expect us to get anywhere from 150 Mbps-250 Mbps.  The reason for this drop is the huge split in signal from switch to switch over and over again and then to access point.  Currently I am seeing anywhere from 30 Mbps in some rooms to 100 Mbps.  While 100 Mbps may not be terrible, what bothers me most is the inconsistent connection.  One minute you will get 100, then the next 30.   

I have tried many different things to fix this issue:

1. I updated all firmware on each switch and access point.  This didn’t fix the issue. 
2. I tried to bypass an old switch on our network in hopes this may have been causing the slower connection.  When I did this, half the building lost connection to the Internet.  I am investigating why this happened still.  In the short span of time, Internet speeds improved back to normal for APs still connected; however, it could be due to half the traffic on the network being offline.
3. I have opened up dual band 5G on several access points throughout the building.  This helps with connection a little bit, but doesn’t create acceptable speeds.
4. I have used my access point as a test for various changes I have made to the access point configurations.  I expanded the radio bandwidth from 20 mhz to 40 mhz on my access point.  This increased speed, but also increased interference.  I am messing with the range of the signal to see if that makes a difference.  I have also done this with the Main Office access point to see if it improves connection.  Unfortunately, I am not sure this would be a good idea to do throughout the building as it would increase interference between access points and cause different issues. 
5. Finally, I have had a ticket in with our network engineer for over a week.  I am waiting for him to become available and assist with investigating this issue. 

Please know this is something I work on daily.  Not having students in the building last year possibly hid this issue.  Can’t troubleshoot an issue that is not occurring.  There is no answer currently, but I have been working on it while continuing to answer your support tickets.  I am researching, tweaking settings, etc. in hopes something will work.  I am also hopefully the new switch and stacking cables we are expecting will help once they are installed.  At this point in time I am not going to do any network maintenance when people are in the building unless I am working with the network engineer. 

UPDATE: Issue Resolved

Shortly after writing this tech report, I noticed a new firmware update that was released very soon after the one I had pushed through the day before.  I updated the firmware on all access points.  I also disabled the enrollment network as it was no longer needed.  The next day, WiFi was consistently between 100 and 150 Mbps.  The following Monday and Tuesday, speeds were well over 200 Mbps consistently.  The issue appears to be resolved and our network will only be improved as time goes on when new components arrive.  For individual teachers losing connection throughout the day, I am enabling your second 5G radio on your access point as this will resolve the issue. 

Issue 2: Sharp Board Sound

I have received a number of complaints regarding the sound on the Sharp Boards.  I have also experienced the disappointing lack of sound the new speakers have provided.  Some work fine, while others are too soft to be heard a few feet in front of the screen.  There is a ticket in with Pulse to take a look at this.  If they are unable to do anything to improve the sound, then we can look at purchasing speakers for the boards. 

Issue 3: No Guest Network

With the removal of our on premise web filter and the introduction of Securly, our guest network was no longer capable of filtering traffic on its network.  Guest devices must be pointed to a specific DNS server and right now, this is not done automatically.  As a result, the guest network is shut down.  I have established a BYOD network for staff and can manually set any staff members up who would like their cell phones on that network.  I still plan to set up the guest network in the not too distant future.   

Coming Soon…

Gym Digital Displays

The large displays in the gym are in the process of being installed.  While we had hoped they would be done before school started, the boards took longer to arrive than anticipated and the contractor availability also played a role.  Two boards will be installed where the scoreboards were and will serve as both scoreboard and digital displays.  The gigantic media wall will also be installed.  In next month’s report I will have more on this.

Network Upgrades

As mentioned earlier, I am waiting on a new core switch for our network as well as stacking cables.  Currently our switches are connected by Cat6 cables daisy chained to each other.  This is slow.  The stacking cables should improve the connection.  The new core switch should give us more capabilities and handle our routing. 

NWEA

NWEA Testing will take place during September.  Schedule will be sent out shortly.

Looking Back

As my 12^th school year at HAST begins, I have been thinking back on how much our school has evolved.  When I first took over as Technology Director in 2014, we were heavily reliant on old Apple X servers from 2009.  These servers had not been updated since they were first installed.  We had an on premise web filter that was not configured correctly and was not allowing for upload speeds to go beyond 5 Mbps.  Our network was outdated and our access points were often underperforming as we had nearly 60 in the building, inside boxes, hiding the signals.  The access points did not have static ip addresses and occasionally would go offline due to ip conflicts because our firewall was not doing a good job handling DHCP.  Staff were using original laptops, many of which were broken or breaking.  There was a shortage of funds to the point we actually had to cut off printing in the building.  Smart boards were not functioning correctly as many of the pen trays were starting to break.  There were no policies for dealing with tech support, no procedures for lost iPads, no procedures for dealing with iPad insurance.  Staff had to bring in their own printers.  We didn’t have money to purchase new iPads and our iPads were out of Apple Care.  iPads were not rolled out to students until October because each individual iPad had to be hooked up to Apple configurator and have the apps installed this way instead of through our Mobile Device Management Server.  We also had an iPad theft ring. 

So when I think back at where we were when I started as Technology Director and where we are now… we are in a much better place.  Network issues occur…people are unhappy with new tech compared to old tech…but at the end of the day…we are in a much better place as a school than we were before.  Our network is heavily cloud based now, our firewall does a better job of protecting our building, there are policies and procedures for nearly everything tech related, we use cloud storage, our teachers have more tools available to them, equipment is replaced after 4-5 years, and iPads are rolled out day 1.

There are many things I still wish to accomplish.  My goal is to make our network flawless with fast internet where nobody will have complaints.  I have committed to making the Technology part of HAST emphasized and will continue to do that for as long as I am here. 

Hopefully next month I will have some updates for you regarding the gym project as well as our network.  In the meantime, continue filling out support tickets for issues.

Support Ticket Breakdown

Reminders

• Please remember to fill out support tickets for support issues.
• Take care of your devices.
• Visit HAST Tech Store for chargers, screen protectors, and to pay iPad deductible online