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5 Effective Tips to Improve Your WiFi

Feb 05 2021

5 Effective Tips to Improve Your WiFi

Whether you have a house with kids who can’t help but run their WiFi gadgets all at once or if you’re just getting into the smart gadget world yourself, we have compiled a few helpful tips to have a better WiFi experience in your home.

1. Turn Your Modem Off Then Back on Again

As simple as it sounds, sometimes all your WiFi needs is a modem reboot. Like other electronic devices like your smart phone and computer, when a modem is on 24/7 sometimes it just needs a power cycle to get things working properly again. Simply turn off or unplug your modem from the wall outlet, wait 30 seconds to 1 minute, and then plug it back in. Once you see green lights, you’ll know the modem is back up and the WiFi is ready to go!

2. Hardwire Devices When Possible

Many use the terms WiFi and internet interchangeably, but there is a difference. Internet is the service itself, and WiFi refers to a way of accessing the internet, usually through wireless devices like your cell phone, tablet, or any smart gadgets labeled as “WiFi.” Sometimes certain devices work better when they are hardwired, or rather having a cable run from your modem directly to the device. Some great suggestions for devices that do well when hardwired are gaming consoles like Xbox and Playstation, Smart TVs that stream apps like Netflix and Hulu, or even your computer if you do a lot of gaming or watching videos. Having certain devices hardwired helps eliminate some interference that naturally occurs with WiFi and allows for faster speeds to the hardwired devices.

3. Turn Off Devices When Not in Use

If a device like a computer, smart phone, tablet, or Smart TV are still powered on even when you’re not using them, they can still use up some of your WiFi and bog down your speed in that way. If a device is not being used, it’s best to turn it off. For example, even if a tablet’s screen is locked, it still can use WiFi when backing up to cloud services or performing background activity like automatic updates. Bonus: you may even save some electricity by getting in the habit of turning off Smart TVs and computers when not in use rather than leaving them run in the background, now that’s a win!

4. Request a WiFi Assessment

Have you noticed certain rooms in your home just don’t get the same connection to the WiFi as others, and seem slower? If this is the case, you may be a good candidate for a WiFi Assessment. We offer whole home WiFi as part of your SRT Internet service, which means we want to do our very best to give you good WiFi coverage in your home, which may require additional equipment called access points. Call our customer service at 701-858-1200 to set up a free WiFi Assessment for your home!

5. Still Unsure? Call Our 24/7 Internet Help Desk!

Sometimes you have tried everything, and things just don’t want to cooperate. When in doubt, call our Internet Help Desk. They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days week, and 365 days a year and are here for you when your internet is giving you trouble. They can be reached at 701-858-7873, or via online chat at srt.com/chat for your convenience.

We hope these tips and tricks will help you feel like a WiFi expert in no time. As always, feel free to call or chat with us if you have any questions regarding your SRT Internet. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date on all things SRT!

SRT is Voted Minot Daily News’ Best Internet Provider of 2020

Feb 01 2021

SRT is Voted Minot Daily News’ Best Internet Provider of 2020

We are delighted to be voted the 2020 Best Internet Provider in the Minot Daily News Readers’ Choice Awards! This year marked 16 consecutive years that Minot Daily News readers have voted SRT as the Best Internet Provider. We are so thankful to the readers for their votes, and very humbled to be the recipient of this award for nearly two decades. We look forward to serving our customers in the years to come!

JOIN OUR FESTIVE 12 DAYS OF TECH-MAS GIVEAWAY!

Nov 30 2020

JOIN OUR FESTIVE 12 DAYS OF TECH-MAS GIVEAWAY!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and we want to spread some holiday cheer by celebrating the 12 Days of Tech-Mas! Finding the perfect gift can be tough, especially when it comes to techy gadgets… there are so many out there! We are here to share some “gift-spiration!”

Every day December 1-12 we will be posting on SRT’s Facebook and Instagram pages featuring an SRT employee with their favorite tech gadget, and why they love it! We will have a variety of gadgets ranging from smart devices that use internet to work, to other gadgets that just make our busy lives a little easier.

To up the festivities, we will also be holding a “Get One, Give One” contest, where you could win one of our featured gadgets for yourself and one for a friend! Here’s how to enter:
– 1 entry for each “like” on any 12 Days of Tech-Mas Facebook or Instagram post
– 1 entry for each friend “tagged” in any 12 Days of Tech-Mas Facebook or Instagram post comment area. You can tag as many friends as you like, but only one friend per comment!

Prizes come in sets of two!
a. Two – Fire TV Stick 4K
b. Two – Blue Microphone Snowball iCE
c. Two – Belkin Wireless Charging Station
d. Two – Instax Printer

Prize winners will be randomly selected from entries as described above and will be chosen on December 17, 2020 and will be notified on Facebook and Instagram, or the contact information provided on mail in entry, to arrange claiming the prizes for you and a friend! For complete rules and to see the list of prizes you could win, visit srt.com/legal.

SHOP LOCAL THIS HOLIDAY SEASON ON SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY

Nov 25 2020

SHOP LOCAL THIS HOLIDAY SEASON ON SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY

Saturday, November 28, 2020 is Small Business Saturday! What is Small Business Saturday, exactly? Officially created in 2010, Small Business Saturday occurs the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and its purpose is to encourage shoppers to support small businesses during the holiday season, particularly within their own communities. Small Business Saturday has become a great opportunity to celebrate shopping locally while supporting the local economy.

There are plenty of ways to celebrate. One way is to check out your favorite small businesses and eateries on Saturday, many of which offer takeout, carside to-go, or online ordering options. In those cases, use your fast SRT Internet to order ahead, saving you time and effort! Some businesses may even have exclusive offers on this day. Social media accounts, like Facebook pages and Instagram profiles for these small businesses, are a great place to find out the latest on what’s happening in Minot and the surrounding communities. Want to cut back on the holiday shopping stress this year? Gift cards to local restaurants and shops are a perfect and easy gift for the hard-to-buy-for person in your life!

Keeping Students Connected During COVID-19

Oct 21 2020

Keeping Students Connected During COVID-19

How BAND and DCN guaranteed broadband access for 99.8 percent of North Dakota students during the pandemic

It was still early in the COVID-19 pandemic when Governor Doug Burgum and Superintendent of Public Instruction Kirsten Baesler called the first press conference.

As of that Friday, March 13th, North Dakota only had one confirmed case of the novel coronavirus. Baesler and Burgum announced that schools would remain open, and provided administrators with guidelines to make the best decisions for their individual districts.

But the situation progressed dramatically over the weekend, and on Sunday, Governor Burgum ordered schools to close for the week. Teaching staff entered their schools for what would be the last time of the year to plan for remote learning—just in case. And on Thursday afternoon, the Executive Order was made: all North Dakota school buildings would be closed to students, indefinitely.

“Thus began the saga of, how do we ensure that our students don’t stop learning just because our school buildings are closed?” said Superintendent Baesler.

The Executive Order issued by Governor Burgum that day included a stipulation that in order for schools to receive funding, they must submit a distance learning plan to be approved by the Department of Public Instruction.

“In those plans, we saw a heavy emphasis on technology—not only the platforms of communication between teachers and students, but also the delivery of actual learning mechanisms of math, reading, and writing lessons,” Superintendent Baesler said. “And that led us to be a little bit concerned about whether our students were going to be connected, whether they would have access to that technology.”

In March 2020, school districts across the country were faced with the same question. Teachers scrambled to make plans to continue providing meaningful instruction for the remainder of the school year. News reports showed images of students gathered, six feet apart, in their schools’ parking lots just so they could access the Internet to complete their assignments.

But amidst the chaos, one unexpected state was able to transition to distance learning almost seamlessly. More than 99 percent of North Dakota students, over 120,000, were connected to the internet in a matter of days—all thanks to a spirit of collaboration, an investment in broadband infrastructure, and the legendary North Dakota work ethic.

Staying Safe by Staying Connected

For 21st century students, access to the Internet isn’t just a luxury—it’s a necessity. Today’s teachers rely on high-speed broadband connections to communicate with students, deliver assessments, and most importantly, help students become informed global citizens. Tools like virtual field trips and online pen-pal assignments keep students connected to their increasingly globalized world.

“It is absolutely essential for our students to have broadband access because the world is so big right now and they are so connected to it,” Superintendent Baesler said. “They can’t take a field trip to China, or to the oil fields of Saudi Arabia, but things happening in those countries are impacting their daily lives. So it’s important that they learn about them as they become global citizens, and that is only possible through the Internet.”

The Internet became even more critical for schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Suddenly, it was teachers’ only form of communication with students. And because social distancing plays such a vital role in preventing the spread of the virus, it also became a means of keeping teachers, students, and their families safe.

In order to ensure that all North Dakota students could participate in online school during the pandemic, districts first needed to understand where the need for Internet access lay. Working with local broadband providers and the North Dakota Information Technology department, Baesler’s team learned that student addresses were not protected information and could therefore be used to determine whether or not they had access to broadband. By overlaying student addresses with broadband customer addresses, they learned that a majority of students, approximately 70 percent, already had robust broadband access within their homes.

Next, it was a matter of delivering broadband to that last 30 percent—and quickly. Realizing the importance of keeping students connected during the pandemic, the 15 rural broadband providers that form the Broadband Association of North Dakota (BAND) went to work immediately.

“Virtually all of the areas had fiber running by those home addresses,” said David Crothers, Executive Director of BAND. “It was just a matter of getting the equipment in the door and hooked up for those students in unconnected homes. So we were able to do that very, very quickly. And that’s how we ended up with over 2,100 students online who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to participate in their education.”

Almost 25 years ago, the member companies that form BAND joined together to create the Dakota Carrier Network (DCN) in order to invest in a fiber backbone that spans the entire state. Those companies knew that they could get farther together, and so far, they have laid more than 42,000 miles of fiber across the state of North Dakota.

Because of that existing fiber infrastructure, a process that normally would have taken months was completed in just days. When the pandemic hit, North Dakota schools did not need to build a new system to get broadband to students; instead, they were able to dedicate their energy to deploying a system that was already in place.

“We had that infrastructure, that symbiotic relationship before COVID-19 ever hit. And so we were able to join up as one and funnel all this traffic onto that network,” Crothers said. “We were fully prepared to go, but that’s a debt of gratitude that we owe to the directors and management of these local companies that were doing it a quarter of a century ago. And it’s worked out just perfectly for us and the people in North Dakota.”

A Heritage of Innovation

In just three weeks, 99.8 percent of students in territories served by BAND member companies were connected to the Internet and able to continue with their school year—a number virtually unheard of across the country.

When colleagues from around the country ask Superintendent Baesler how North Dakota managed to connect so many students, so quickly, she looks back to our state’s heritage. When pioneers first settled in North Dakota, living few and far between, they needed electricity to survive. They didn’t wait for a large electrical company from across the country to provide them with electricity; they banded together, formed cooperatives, and did it for themselves. The same can be said for telephone lines, and today, broadband.

“They brought that communication to our farmers and ranchers across the state. I think that is the heritage that has brought us to 99.8 connectivity,” Superintendent Baesler said. “That’s the partnership that we have with BAND and their member companies. They don’t wait around for someone else to solve problems for their customers, for their members. And for most importantly, they solve that problem before the problem even really gets bad.”

By working together and drawing on this pioneering spirit of North Dakotans past, the 15 member companies that form the Broadband Association of North Dakota, Dakota Carrier Network, and school districts across the state set an example of the possibilities of distance learning. Most importantly, they proved that no student should fall behind in school due to lack of Internet access—even in the midst of a pandemic.

“COVID-19 has created a dramatic illustration of the importance of having a reliable, affordable, excellent broadband connection, anywhere that you live in the state of North Dakota,” Crothers said. “It’s really brought to bear how important a functional state-of-the-art broadband network is, not just for those who can afford it, not just for those in the largest cities, but to every resident.”