Kingsway Wi-Fi access is a complicated issue
As students sit around tables in the cafeteria with their phones in their hands, they begin to complain about their text messages not being able to go through. Though students constantly blame the Wi-Fi service at Kingsway for this struggle, the issue is much more complicated than just this.
Robert Iocona, the Chief Technology Officer for Kingsway Regional Middle and High school along with South Harrison Township schools, is in charge of the school’s wireless connection service. He mentioned that “KRSD-Student Wi-Fi works perfectly fine, whereas it is the student’s personal cell phone provider that is causing the delay and almost no coverage. If a device does not receive full bars, it will not connect. The only thing that could slow down the Wi-Fi service a little bit would be if you are in a room, such as the cafeteria, where there is a lot of people attempting to access the network at once”. One day, during SMART Lunch at 10:34 a.m., 799 people were connected to the KRSD-Student Wi-Fi service Iocona noted.
Additionally, when Kingsway Regional High School was built, it was built before new technology had been developed. The school was built with double block brick walls to create safety within the building. Because of thick walls, the cellular device providers are unable to reach personal devices through the walls.
If a device is able to get full coverage from their personal provider, such as T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, etc., they will also be able to get full coverage through the KRSD-Student Wi-Fi service, and then the device will successfully send text messages and access the Internet as it is meant to.
The situation is not limited to just students. Superintendent Dr James Lavender noted that at times he is “unable to receive text messages and phone calls while I am in my office”.
Sophomore student, Morgan Klaiss mentioned that “it makes me feel unsafe”. She feels as though not being able to get full coverage from her provider in school creates a safety issue if she felt the need to contact a parent or guardian in case of an emergency.
Robert Iocona • Jan 23, 2019 at 3:24 PM
If you are on the district wifi you can utilize imessage with other Apple users most of the time if there is no cellular connection. Cellular connections are always poor in our buildings due to our double-block construction.
Also NOTE: You have to re-register your wireless access EVERY YEAR. That means you will have to forget the network on your phone, register a new code at https://wifi.krsd.org, and use that new code for your device. Codes ONLY last 365 days.