Supposing that I am an IT (Information Technology) consultant or let’s say that I am already an IT consultant and I am hired by the university president to give my insights, idea, or suggestions to improve the internet connectivity of the school first, I would remind them of the importance of the internet, not only to the students but to the teachers and staffs as well. The internet has become a very strong medium of information and undoubtedly it has helped people, especially students, in increasing their knowledge. You can find all kinds of stuffs in the internet searching the world wide web, some say that the internet is pure truth compared to what people read in the newspapers and televisions because the news is manipulated by corporate guys to keep people living in fear (I actually got this from a couple of movies, a part of me tells me this is true and another part tells me it is not). Anyway, I just wanted to point out how important the internet is.
Before giving my suggestions on how to improve the internet connectivity of the school the first thing I would like to point out is that the internet would be made available and accessible in the whole school campus. What I mean is that the whole school campus would be provided internet connection through wifi. I do know that at the event when I give this suggestion the first thing that would pop out is the money issue or the budget. Setting a wifi connection in the whole campus would mean money, but considering the fact that there are many wifi connections strewn across the school campus, and I mean many, and these are not made available to everyone, especially the students of the school. What is the purpose of putting wireless networks scattered across the school campus but locking it by setting access codes so that the students couldn’t use it? Why not make it available to everyone where everyone can benefit from it because I do not think that the cost would increase by just removing the access codes.
USING HIGH END COMPUTERS
On to my suggestions (by the way I do not have much knowledge about improving internet connectivity, what I will be saying are those that I know of and those that I heard and researched.) My first suggestion would be to use high-end computers which also have high processing speed because sometimes it’s not just because the internet connection is low but the processing is slow. No matter how fast or how large your internet bandwidth is, the performance will still be poor. This solution could help improve the performance of the computers and to fully benefit the internet connection in the university. However, this solution is not practical because purchasing high-end computers would mean spending a lot of money, considering that a computer set costs a lot, this solution is not practical for the university to be implemented because honestly the university lacks the budget to purchase new sets of computers or is saving its budget for a more important cause. I only suggested this solution because it can also be a solution for the improvement of the internet connectivity.
REMOVING THE FILTERS
I have not actually proven that this is true but I want to put it because it does have some point. I have read something in the internet that the filters or the blocking of URL’s or websites can slow or degrade the internet connectivity. You can see it in the site that I included below. The article states that enabling web blocking can degrade internet connectivity up to fifty percent (50%). This has been happening especially in internet cafes because some are mandated to put filters so that the customers or users can not access pornographic sites. However in our case, the university blocks not only pornographic sites but also including web sites like download sites or social networking sites. I know that the purpose of the computer laboratories like the Nodal in the Institute of Computing and the computer laboratory in the university library is dedicated for academic use but we must not forget that the students do pay to be able to use these computers and the internet service. I also think it would be unfair or rather foul because even sites that do not have explicit content are also blocked. If the goal of the university is to prevent students from accessing sites that contain explicit contents the university could very well utilize servers like in internet cafes. I saw this kind of server where the one operating or administering the server can detect if a certain user is accessing web sites which contain explicit content because the programs or web sites being accessed from a certain computer can be seen in the server. The university could use this which will improve the internet connectivity and at the same time prevent students from accessing prohibited web sites by denying them access of the computer if ever a user accesses one. By this the internet bandwidth can be properly utilized and will not be put to waste. This could be a solution to improve internet connectivity in the university without spending a lot of money.
REEVALUATE AND REDO
The third suggestion would be reevaluate all factors concerning “internet connectivity”. There are many factors that affect how fast or how slow an internet connection is. These factors can be the network topology, hardware and software used, threats, etc. Network topology is the physical interconnections of the elements of a computer network. I have first encountered the term network topology during our data communications subject and from it I learned that the topology of a certain computer network could also affect the internet connectivity. Determining the proper topology for a certain computer network could improve and utilize of its element’s capacity. By means of determining the best topology for the computer network of the university it could improve the internet connectivity of the school. Hardware and software are also determining factors that affect internet connectivity. I think the school is currently using UTP and fiber optic cables which I may say are the proper cables to be used because it reduces noise (I also learned this from our data communications subject by the way). On the software side, the university could also use softwares that could speed up internet connectivity like WEBROCKET and SpeedConnect Internet Accelerator which I think was just released in the internet. Using these kinds of softwares offers advantages and disadvantages. These software speeds up your internet connection by maximizing your connection to its maximum potential because it adapts your modem to its maximum potential. However its advantage is that it reduces or rather degrades the quality of the interface which in the case of the students is still a good choice because I think the students would rather prefer good internet connectivity rather than good interface. There are also programs or applications that when used could slow the processing of the computer because it eats up the memory of the computer and when most of the memory is being used the tendency is that when a certain user opens a web browser the processing is slow and so the performance is also slow. Threats, these factors greatly affect computer performance. Threats like viruses, worms and malwares, programs that are written and made to destroy or spread havoc in computers. Since I was in first year college, whenever I use the internet service in the nodal I always encounter viruses and I always get to bring home viruses, worms and malwares whenever I save something in the flash drive. Now I’m in my fourth year in this university although my standing is still three and half years, I still encounter viruses and the like. Well it seems that suppressing the entry of viruses into your computer cannot be helped especially when you have internet connection but as long as it can be controlled it would put your computer to a safer state. In the case of the university where the budget is limited, they could always resort to practical solution to these threats such as maintaining an updated antivirus which could block and destroy virus and the like. This way, the performance of the computers would not be affected and the internet connectivity would be utilized to its utmost potential.
INCREASING BANDWITH
I actually forgot the current bandwidth that the university is currently employing and I would not fully recommend this suggestion but because it can also improve the internet connectivity of the university this suggestion still has a “say”. Increasing bandwidth could really improve the internet connectivity but at the same time it also has a great deal of money. However, if the university manages to increase its bandwidth but is unable to manage to change its computers to a high-speed computer the internet connection would still not be used in its maximum potential. The laboratories in the Institute of Computing has been currently upgraded but still it encounters the same problems as before but at least the processing does not take as long as before.
CHANGING INTERNET PROVIDER
If all else fails I think the last solution would be to change the internet provider. In choosing a good internet provider you would need to consider some things. The first thing you would need to consider is the bandwidth and the cost because the bigger the bandwidth the bigger the price. Bandwidth is the amount of data that downloaded by you using the connection. You would also need to know the appropriate bandwidth needed for your computer network. Second is the download speed, you would also need to consider determining the download speed that you need because the download speed depends on the location of your computer network. Third thing you need to consider is the contracts, you should be aware of it. One thing to look for is the insurance or the money back guarantee because you may want to ask your money back if you are not contented with the internet service. The last thing to consider is the freebies I think this is the most important thing to be considered. Customers must read other customer reviews of the internet provider that you might want. Reading reviews will give you insights about the internet provider and always remember that reading one customer review will not be enough.
Reference:
Web Blocking/Filtering
Before giving my suggestions on how to improve the internet connectivity of the school the first thing I would like to point out is that the internet would be made available and accessible in the whole school campus. What I mean is that the whole school campus would be provided internet connection through wifi. I do know that at the event when I give this suggestion the first thing that would pop out is the money issue or the budget. Setting a wifi connection in the whole campus would mean money, but considering the fact that there are many wifi connections strewn across the school campus, and I mean many, and these are not made available to everyone, especially the students of the school. What is the purpose of putting wireless networks scattered across the school campus but locking it by setting access codes so that the students couldn’t use it? Why not make it available to everyone where everyone can benefit from it because I do not think that the cost would increase by just removing the access codes.
USING HIGH END COMPUTERS
On to my suggestions (by the way I do not have much knowledge about improving internet connectivity, what I will be saying are those that I know of and those that I heard and researched.) My first suggestion would be to use high-end computers which also have high processing speed because sometimes it’s not just because the internet connection is low but the processing is slow. No matter how fast or how large your internet bandwidth is, the performance will still be poor. This solution could help improve the performance of the computers and to fully benefit the internet connection in the university. However, this solution is not practical because purchasing high-end computers would mean spending a lot of money, considering that a computer set costs a lot, this solution is not practical for the university to be implemented because honestly the university lacks the budget to purchase new sets of computers or is saving its budget for a more important cause. I only suggested this solution because it can also be a solution for the improvement of the internet connectivity.
REMOVING THE FILTERS
I have not actually proven that this is true but I want to put it because it does have some point. I have read something in the internet that the filters or the blocking of URL’s or websites can slow or degrade the internet connectivity. You can see it in the site that I included below. The article states that enabling web blocking can degrade internet connectivity up to fifty percent (50%). This has been happening especially in internet cafes because some are mandated to put filters so that the customers or users can not access pornographic sites. However in our case, the university blocks not only pornographic sites but also including web sites like download sites or social networking sites. I know that the purpose of the computer laboratories like the Nodal in the Institute of Computing and the computer laboratory in the university library is dedicated for academic use but we must not forget that the students do pay to be able to use these computers and the internet service. I also think it would be unfair or rather foul because even sites that do not have explicit content are also blocked. If the goal of the university is to prevent students from accessing sites that contain explicit contents the university could very well utilize servers like in internet cafes. I saw this kind of server where the one operating or administering the server can detect if a certain user is accessing web sites which contain explicit content because the programs or web sites being accessed from a certain computer can be seen in the server. The university could use this which will improve the internet connectivity and at the same time prevent students from accessing prohibited web sites by denying them access of the computer if ever a user accesses one. By this the internet bandwidth can be properly utilized and will not be put to waste. This could be a solution to improve internet connectivity in the university without spending a lot of money.
REEVALUATE AND REDO
The third suggestion would be reevaluate all factors concerning “internet connectivity”. There are many factors that affect how fast or how slow an internet connection is. These factors can be the network topology, hardware and software used, threats, etc. Network topology is the physical interconnections of the elements of a computer network. I have first encountered the term network topology during our data communications subject and from it I learned that the topology of a certain computer network could also affect the internet connectivity. Determining the proper topology for a certain computer network could improve and utilize of its element’s capacity. By means of determining the best topology for the computer network of the university it could improve the internet connectivity of the school. Hardware and software are also determining factors that affect internet connectivity. I think the school is currently using UTP and fiber optic cables which I may say are the proper cables to be used because it reduces noise (I also learned this from our data communications subject by the way). On the software side, the university could also use softwares that could speed up internet connectivity like WEBROCKET and SpeedConnect Internet Accelerator which I think was just released in the internet. Using these kinds of softwares offers advantages and disadvantages. These software speeds up your internet connection by maximizing your connection to its maximum potential because it adapts your modem to its maximum potential. However its advantage is that it reduces or rather degrades the quality of the interface which in the case of the students is still a good choice because I think the students would rather prefer good internet connectivity rather than good interface. There are also programs or applications that when used could slow the processing of the computer because it eats up the memory of the computer and when most of the memory is being used the tendency is that when a certain user opens a web browser the processing is slow and so the performance is also slow. Threats, these factors greatly affect computer performance. Threats like viruses, worms and malwares, programs that are written and made to destroy or spread havoc in computers. Since I was in first year college, whenever I use the internet service in the nodal I always encounter viruses and I always get to bring home viruses, worms and malwares whenever I save something in the flash drive. Now I’m in my fourth year in this university although my standing is still three and half years, I still encounter viruses and the like. Well it seems that suppressing the entry of viruses into your computer cannot be helped especially when you have internet connection but as long as it can be controlled it would put your computer to a safer state. In the case of the university where the budget is limited, they could always resort to practical solution to these threats such as maintaining an updated antivirus which could block and destroy virus and the like. This way, the performance of the computers would not be affected and the internet connectivity would be utilized to its utmost potential.
INCREASING BANDWITH
I actually forgot the current bandwidth that the university is currently employing and I would not fully recommend this suggestion but because it can also improve the internet connectivity of the university this suggestion still has a “say”. Increasing bandwidth could really improve the internet connectivity but at the same time it also has a great deal of money. However, if the university manages to increase its bandwidth but is unable to manage to change its computers to a high-speed computer the internet connection would still not be used in its maximum potential. The laboratories in the Institute of Computing has been currently upgraded but still it encounters the same problems as before but at least the processing does not take as long as before.
CHANGING INTERNET PROVIDER
If all else fails I think the last solution would be to change the internet provider. In choosing a good internet provider you would need to consider some things. The first thing you would need to consider is the bandwidth and the cost because the bigger the bandwidth the bigger the price. Bandwidth is the amount of data that downloaded by you using the connection. You would also need to know the appropriate bandwidth needed for your computer network. Second is the download speed, you would also need to consider determining the download speed that you need because the download speed depends on the location of your computer network. Third thing you need to consider is the contracts, you should be aware of it. One thing to look for is the insurance or the money back guarantee because you may want to ask your money back if you are not contented with the internet service. The last thing to consider is the freebies I think this is the most important thing to be considered. Customers must read other customer reviews of the internet provider that you might want. Reading reviews will give you insights about the internet provider and always remember that reading one customer review will not be enough.
Reference:
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