It’s a great question – how much speed does a student need?
The answer isn’t as straightforward as it appears, because there are many different types of student.
Some courses are ultra-demanding, requiring significant investments in technology; others are more minimalist in their approach. But it’s still possible to devise some rough guidelines.
Required study speeds
These days, it’s a far different story than when all a student needed to access the internet for study was to unplug the phone line and plug it into their computer.
Times have changed. Students will need far more grunt to access the internet these days, no matter what they’re studying.
How much more? Let’s crunch the numbers.
Today, everything’s simply more demanding. Even if your child is studying, say, English, the slowest possible speed won’t be enough to comfortably complete the course. A minimum of 25Mbps download/5Mbps upload is what you should be budgeting on for your student.
However, that speed is a bare minimum. These days, it’s recommended that a student has access to 50Mbps/20Mbps. As classes and course content become more demanding, students require far more rapid connections than before.
In all courses, Students are now expected to access a variety of multimedia – including video content from sites such as YouTube and Vimeo. And as I’m sure you’re aware, nothing’s more tedious than watching a skipping, pausing, stuttering clip online.
But the demands of HD video is only part of the story. Applications have also become significantly more demanding.
To pass their course, many students must now download monster applications such as image-editing software (e.g. Photoshop). These programs are now insanely powerful (and often bloated), chewing up a huge portion of your machine’s processing capacity.
Unfortunately, there’s no way around this. The last thing you want is for your student to be unable to meet their study goals because they’re having to wait an eternity to download the application or access the content they need.
Now that we’ve covered speed, let’s move on to content.
Appropriate and inappropriate websites
Parental controls may be an invaluable asset for you as a parent, if you’re keen to protect your child from inappropriate content when they’re at university. That’s fortunately getting easier, because many routers these days have parental control options.
So, how do they work?
It’s not a blanket ban on everything in your household. Instead, parental control devices now take a subtler approach by allowing you to block specific websites on a device-by-device basis. (Think scalpel, not sledgehammer.)
For example, if you want to block your children from accessing a range of commonly accessed adult websites, a parental blocker has you covered.
And remember, it’s not just about inappropriate content.
Blockers can also help you exclude pure distractions. If your child’s hooked on a popular (and insanely addictive) video game that’s consuming their conscious mind, your router can assist you in this task.
Many routers are now expert time managers, giving you the ability to disable internet access to individual devices after certain times of day.
They do this by scheduling a ‘cut off’ period for individual devices. With this useful tool, parents can continue to use the internet as they see fit … while blocking access for their kids.
Unfair? Perhaps.
Indispensable? Absolutely.
Along with the ‘Blocked List’, there’s also a ‘Safe List’ that you can easily add to. It’s easy to add websites to, so that your child’s internet experience can be as simple as possible.
Getting everything working
With such a useful system, you may think getting everything set up would be an ordeal.
But we’ve made it painless.
For example, consider the NetComm router provided by us at LeapTel.
Like everything we use, it’s simple and intuitive. This is essential for parents who may not be quite as technology-obsessed as their ‘Digital Native’ children.
NetComm routers even have a straightforward setup guide, making creating the parental controls crystal-clear. It’s purposely designed for people who are used to using Windows and Mac menus – no Advanced Programming degree required. Just follow the guide’s intuitive instructions and you’ll be managing your family’s internet access in no time.
Need some assistance? You could hand the whole thing over to your child and trust them to enter the correct sites to block … but that might defeat the purpose.
Instead, feel freed to give the team of tech-enthusiasts at LeapTel a call if you ever find yourself a little baffled.
It happens to all of us – and we’re pretty good at getting people back on track.
So, if you’re after a safe, intuitive and productive internet experience for the members of your family who are currently studying (but don’t feel like wrapping your child in bubble wrap), consider investing in something that will really help them focus on their studies.
Who would’ve thought that the internet could ever be turned into an anti-procrastination tool?
With Leaptel, it’s possible.