Helpful advice from our IT department

Some helpful advice from our IT department if people need it themselves or for advice to providers.

Tēnā koe,

In response to the many queries about individual situations for MOE staff, school staff & students in remote or rural areas with poor connectivity, capped data plans etc – here is some info/actions/advice we have received today which could be of help.

For Home internet connections

  1. Performance/Speed Issues with home wifi setup (eliminate these first before assuming it’s the connection from the house to the internet)
    1. Run a speed test at www.speedtest.net to establish a baseline, and repeat after making any change below to check for improvement.
    2. Power off home router every morning, leave off for 30 secs before powering back on (don’t press the reset button this will reset the device settings!
    3. Place router in highest and most unobstructed possible position (not behind the TV, and not close to the microwave etc)
    4. Turn off, or disable wifi on, unused devices where possible, especially older devices that run at slower wifi speeds
    5. Decrease the physical distance between your device & the wifi router, line of sight is best
    6. Use an Ethernet cable on devices where possible to reduce wifi load (esp smart tvs, gaming consoles) – plug these into a spare LAN port on your router
  1. Data Allowance/Cap issues
    1. Check not already on an uncapped data plan as previously communicated in the bulletin (applies to Spark, Vodafone, Vocus/Slingshot, and 2Degrees, Trustpower). If unsure contact provider
    2. Some providers have made uncapped offers to rural and remote customers for off peak (nightime hours only). Consider shifting non time critical downloads such as computer patching to these time periods
    3. Check what options are available for the address at https://broadbandmap.nz/ and if not on the cheapest/best option suggest changing provider as an option (this is covered as an essential service)
  1. In some remote areas speed of connection AND the amount of data is a hard technical constraint based on the capacity of the technology used such as satellite or “point to point” wireless.
    1. As a very rough indicator if it requires an externally mounted antenna or dish it probably falls into this category
    2. If this is the situation for a teacher delivering distance learning, consider non-digital alternatives in the short term

For Mobile phone connections

  1. The data plan on mobile phones is NOT covered by the removal of data caps
  2. Individuals data plans vary significantly – high data usage on some plans over allowance is very expensive
  3. For personally owed phones consider changing to a different plan that better reflects new usage patterns. Often this can be done at no/little additional cost
  4. Use the app provided by your mobile phone supplier to track usage
  5. “Hotspotting” from a mobile phone is less efficient that using home wifi (aerials are smaller) so this will be slower
  6. If using for voice calls and running out of minutes consider alternatives where possible such us email/messaging systems

Ngā mihi

Anneliese Henare | Senior Adviser ECP
DDI +6478508900 | Mobile +64 27 246 4182
19 Home Straight, Hamilton

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