What can I do when my Internet goes down and I need to Zoom? Troubleshoot your Internet or Improve the Speed - Teachers and Students (Public)

I. Quick Steps if Your Internet is Down

1. Use your phone data as a hotspot - assuming you have an unlimited data plan.
2. Download Zoom on your phone and run a barebones online presence for the day. Everyone should download Zoom on their phone as a backup option.
3. When using your phone hotspot, join Zoom meetings without video - use audio-only. Students can turn off their video too to reduce bandwidth needs.
4. Phone classmate. Have students who do not have Internet phone a classmate to listen-in/contribute to a class.
5. Students can use Loom (found in Self Service) to do screen recordings of their presentations. To turn-in they can upload them to Google Drive, share with anyone at Blake and send their teacher the link.

II. Quick Steps to Troubleshoot your Internet or Improve Speeds

1. Restart your device. Save your work, quit all open applications, and restart.
   
   
2. Close extra browser tabs and applications that you are not using, especially during a Zoom meeting. 
• Check the Dock (Apple computers). Dots under application icons on the Dock mean they are still open. Close the apps not needed. Note, the Finder (Happy Mac logo) is always open and cannot be closed. 
• Close extra browser tabs and windows not being used. Instead, bookmark important sites to reopen quickly.
• Use audio only during Zoom meetings to minimize strain on your network
3. Determine how many devices are using your network at the same time. Bandwidth is shared by all connected devices and can include laptops, phones, smart TVs, game consoles. Determine if some devices can be disconnected while you work.
   
   
4. Test the internet speed (download and upload). Go to www.speedtest.net and run a speed test. A good network speed is 20Mbps and above. Zoom recommends bandwidth of 2Mbps or above.
   
   
5. Check your WiFi signal strength. Moving closer to your modem makes a difference. If you have better results, consider moving your work area closer to your modem. Or consider relocating your modem closer to your work area.
   
   
6. Restart your modem. Most modems can be power cycled by unplugging the device, counting slowly to 20, then plugging them back in. Check online for specific directions for your model. If you have a modem and router you will need to restart in the proper order.
   
   
7. Contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP) such as CenturyLink, Comcast, US Internet, etc. If you don't know who provides your internet services, then run www.speedtest.net.
   
   
8. Go wired. Hard-wired connections provide better stability and internet speeds.