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Re: Meetinghouse Internet Problems

Posted: Tue May 28, 2019 1:07 pm
by ldsrussp
Oh, I have the ability to disable the wifi but to do so permanently I'd of course need the Stake President to approve. I might ask for it honestly. At this point though I just wonder why the Church even bothers to pay for any of this given how unusable it's become in most cases (at least for our buildings). Guess I'm just venting that I get complaints about how awful it is or saying that "it's not working" when it really is just that BW is so pitiful that it's get overwhelmed and will just appear like it's not working at all. I routinely just tell people to not rely on it but instead use their own hotspot or someone elses as you can't in any way depend on the church connection.

Re: Meetinghouse Internet Problems

Posted: Tue May 28, 2019 1:29 pm
by russellhltn
The situation is unique for each meetinghouse. I have one that hosts one ward that is similar to your experience. I also have a stake center that hosts 5 wards on a overlapping schedule that's doing fine.

Re: Meetinghouse Internet Problems

Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2019 8:29 pm
by JamesAnderson
Last year's work b Meetinghouse Tech regarding site filtering made the diference for me, even with having very good bandwidth and top level CAT 5 cabling. With the work they did last May, things run smoother.

Now, nonessential apps cannot make calls for updates, or transient content requests for related data. Only the Church apps do that and it is very minimal and they start up fast er and my tablet loads the startup sequence faster because things are not downloading.

A tip: Just before you get to the meetinghouse, power down your device, once inside the door power up again, you will see fewer resident apps, mainly the Church ones and sometimes Gmail. Nothing else will load if you are solely using the Church wifi. That is the case with many tablets especially those that do not take data plans.

This may help in low-bandwidth areas. Some realize this, but most may not.

Re: Meetinghouse Internet Problems

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 2:50 pm
by ldsrussp
My solution is simple. Don't use church wifi. I'd personally shut it down if it was up to me as in our area most people have phones and the cellular networks have good coverage at our buildings. The building with the worst problems is with ATT Uverse. It's under repair now so maybe it will improve but usually get around 1-6 mbps download even after fresh reboots. :(

Re: Meetinghouse Internet Problems

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 9:08 am
by johnshaw
ldsrussp wrote:My solution is simple. Don't use church wifi. I'd personally shut it down if it was up to me as in our area most people have phones and the cellular networks have good coverage at our buildings. The building with the worst problems is with ATT Uverse. It's under repair now so maybe it will improve but usually get around 1-6 mbps download even after fresh reboots. :(
Seriously, and I mean this with all honesty, this is something you can work to get the answers to. If the problem is technology, start troubleshooting it building by building until it's resolved - If it's not technology then work with the High Councilman, the Stake Clerk, the Stake Presidency member or whoever has the ear of the FM group to improve things. The Church has negotiated with most major internet providers for speeds that are well above what you've been posting on this board. Ask the FM what speeds you are supposed to be getting (contracted for) and if you're not getting them then get on the phone and figure out why or why not with those providers. If you're contracted for 25, you should get 25. If you're not getting 25, it doesn't seem to follow standard church contracts with major providers. If you're the STS then get it done, if you're not, then I don't see why coming on this board is anything be silliness and a vain waste of time for others responding. The only thing over time I've seen in several stakes I've served as the STS for is improved and increased speeds, not decreases. Your experiences don't jive with the community as I've seen on this board for the last 10 years, it's an anomaly.

Assuming you're the STS, figure it out, get it done, it's your calling.

Re: Meetinghouse Internet Problems

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 9:18 am
by JamesAnderson
While we have very good bandwidth, until the cabling was replaced even we had major problems. Once the CAT 5 cabling was replaced with stuff that gave us 66 mbps throughput, not expensive but swapping that for what anyone has is going to make a lot of difference.

Check where the WAPs are too, one errantly misplaced one can leave a dead spot in just the wrong place. While that is not likely those placements need to be double checked to ensure best coverage

Re: Meetinghouse Internet Problems

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 10:05 am
by drepouille
When I was the STS about five to ten years ago, I was also the stake clerk. The stake was supposed to pay the telephone bills, and the FM was supposed to pay the Internet bills. But several of our meetinghouses used DSL, which combined both services. So the DSL providers mailed the bills to the stake, while the bills for meetinghouses that had cablemodems went to the FM, and other telephone service was billed through IROPs.

The DSL bills that came to the stake often contained upgrade offers. So I negotiated an upgrade from 2 mpbs to 6 mbps. No problem. Then I tried to upgrade a second DSL line to a higher speed. When I informed the FM office, they immediately called the provider and cancelled the upgrade. They informed me that the church minimum standard speed was 2 mbps, and we could not justify anything that would cost more than that.

We all know that speeds are increasing, and costs are decreasing. The free market makes shopping around the smart approach, especially since ISPs these days tend to give the sweetest (introductory) offers to new subscribers.

As for "bad" CAT5 cabling, the only time I saw that was when FM techs wired RJ45 connectors, junctions, and terminators, and took too many twists out of the wires, which caused performance to suffer. They treated the network cabling as if it were POTS wiring.

Re: Meetinghouse Internet Problems

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 11:40 am
by JamesAnderson
But how old is 'too old'? Ten-year-old cabling is going to be substandard anywhere now, and the age could also mean electrical impedance issues with throughput, newer cabling, even three to five years after the last install, is going to make a world of difference, just be sure the cable purchased is rated correctly.

Re: Meetinghouse Internet Problems

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 11:46 am
by russellhltn
JamesAnderson wrote:Ten-year-old cabling is going to be substandard anywhere now,
Depends on what you're trying to do with it. If your equipment only support 100M, I'd think it would be Ok. But if your switch is 1GB, those new APs might be trying to do 1G over old wiring.

Re: Meetinghouse Internet Problems

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 12:23 pm
by ldsrussp
johnshaw wrote:
ldsrussp wrote:My solution is simple. Don't use church wifi. I'd personally shut it down if it was up to me as in our area most people have phones and the cellular networks have good coverage at our buildings. The building with the worst problems is with ATT Uverse. It's under repair now so maybe it will improve but usually get around 1-6 mbps download even after fresh reboots. :(
Seriously, and I mean this with all honesty, this is something you can work to get the answers to. If the problem is technology, start troubleshooting it building by building until it's resolved - If it's not technology then work with the High Councilman, the Stake Clerk, the Stake Presidency member or whoever has the ear of the FM group to improve things. The Church has negotiated with most major internet providers for speeds that are well above what you've been posting on this board. Ask the FM what speeds you are supposed to be getting (contracted for) and if you're not getting them then get on the phone and figure out why or why not with those providers. If you're contracted for 25, you should get 25. If you're not getting 25, it doesn't seem to follow standard church contracts with major providers. If you're the STS then get it done, if you're not, then I don't see why coming on this board is anything be silliness and a vain waste of time for others responding. The only thing over time I've seen in several stakes I've served as the STS for is improved and increased speeds, not decreases. Your experiences don't jive with the community as I've seen on this board for the last 10 years, it's an anomaly.

Assuming you're the STS, figure it out, get it done, it's your calling.
Whatever dude. It's junk, I've got zero control unlike when the stake paid for things. I can't be meeting them at the building as I actually have a job and church has gotten rid of most of the local FM group so hard to get them scheduled to meet ATT and wait for hours also. I left it with the FM group but really don't see why we bother at all given the quality. I'm the STS but frankly just don't care anymore. Responses here don't address the real issue of Church cutting back beyond the bone anyways so waste of my time coming here and you are quite offensive anyways.