If you are having trouble with your Internet connection and your student Chromebook or laptop, here are several things to check.

First, start over on the connection steps, in exactly this order:

• Chromebooks: 

  • RESTART the device to make it check for a wifi connection again.

  • BEFORE logging into the Chromebook, click on the wireless icon in the lower-right corner of the screen and choose the network to connect to. Follow any instructions needed by that wireless network.

  • After the wireless connection is made, THEN login to the Chromebook.

• Laptops:

  • RESTART the device to make it check for a wifi connection again.

  • Login to the laptop. (You must have logged into the NACS network on this laptop at least once while at school before you will be able to login away from school.) 

  • Click on the wireless icon in the lower-right corner of the screen and choose the network to connect to. Follow any instructions needed by that wireless network.

If No Connection but your Internet seems to be otherwise working:

• Confirm your Wi-Fi is broadcasting an SSID or network name.

• Confirm the correct Wi-Fi security key is entered. Erase and enter it again if needed.

• If other devices in the house are able to connect to the network, use that device to go to a website you haven’t been to in a while to be sure you can get to the Internet and are not just seeing a cached page.

• Have the student sit closer to the router. 

• For the NACS laptop, if possible, plug in an Ethernet cable for a physical connection to the router. (Restart after connecting the cable.)

• Right-click on the wireless icon and have the device Forget the Network. Reboot and do the initial connection steps from above to reconnect to the network.

• If this is the first time using this home network, confirm if there are Parental Controls in place that may be preventing the student device from connecting properly.

• If you have a hotspot or other Internet option, see if the device will connect to that network. If it does but the above tips did not help, there may be a problem with your Internet provider or network equipment.

If it seems your Internet connection is not working properly:

• Check the modem for error messages, restart the modem, and/or contact your ISP (Internet Service Provider) for help. If you have both a modem and a router, you may need to restart both. In that case, the modem usually needs to be back up before the router is restarted.

• Most ISPs offer an outage map to see if there is an issue in your area. Even nearby outages can sometimes impact your service level. Contact your ISP for help.
  Here a few links:

  • AT&T

  • Frontier

  • Verizon

  • Xfinity

  • For other providers or sites: https://downdetector.com/ 

For Intermittent Connections:

• Reboot the device and repeat the connection steps from above to try for a more stable connection.

• Right-click on the wireless icon and have the device Forget the network. Reboot and do the initial connection steps from above to reconnect to the network.

• Have the student sit closer to the router. 

• For the NACS laptop, if possible, plug in an Ethernet cable for a physical connection to the router. (Restart after connecting the cable.) If already connected with a cable, confirm that both ends are firmly connected and that the cable is undamaged.

• If the problem is only on certain sites, confirm with the teacher if the site should be accessible (not blocked by the district filter) and confirm that any home parental controls that may be on the router are not interfering.

• If the network is offering two bands (such as 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz), try connecting to the other band. Distance from the router matters with the bands also - 2.4 Ghz goes further but has a lot of interference; 5 Ghz is not as far but is usually a stronger signal with less interference.

• If other devices in the house are having intermittent connection issues, refer to the section about Internet connections not working properly

• If the problem is with specific sites, check these Status Pages to see if the company is reporting issues with their site.

• If the problem is primarily with Meets, see these Meet Troubleshooting Tips also. 

For Slow Connections:

• Confirm that the battery has sufficient charge, as some processes may slow down in battery saving modes.

• Clear browser cookies and cache.

  • Browse to chrome://settings/clearBrowserData, or edge://settings/clearBrowserData

  • Choose the Basic tab

  • Choose time range = All time

  • Check the boxes for: Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files

  • Clear data

• Close extra browser tabs and extra apps.

• Try an application that does not use the Internet (such as a calculator app) to see if it works quickly, to help determine if the speed issue is related to the Internet connection or the device.

• Disconnect high-resolution displays (QHD, 4K, etc.), which might be causing the device to work harder.

• If the device is overheating, it can struggle to work properly:

  • Use the device on a hard surface rather than fabrics so air can circulate

  • Do not use the device while it is charging (when possible)

• If other devices in the house are slower than normal, refer to the section about Internet connections not working properly.

• If the problem is primarily with Meets, see these Meet Troubleshooting Tips also.