Recently, the school has decided that they will do away with the current filter system known as iBoss. The reason is because Prep has upgraded its 100 megabyte bandwidth to a 500 megabyte bandwidth. This has caused iBoss to become obsolete with the current bandwidth.

The head of technology for Prep, Ms. Laura Bishop, has been pushing for this increased megabyte width and new filter system to replace iBoss.  The new filter will be put in placelater this year.  (For security reasons the Sentry staff is not allowed to release the name of the new firewall that will filter the Prep WiFi).

This new system will allow more students to be on at the same time without having to worry about the internet randomly crashing.

Among students, the most unfavorable aspect of iBoss is probably the content filter. Many students feel that the main purpose of the filter is to limit the number of distractions on the internet. While this may be true for a few websites, the actual reason concerns with bandwidth. Before upgrading, the 100 megabyte bandwidth capacity was not enough to accommodate for everyone considering the amount of devices in the school. This means that streaming services like Netflix and Spotify immediately ate up most of the bandwidth, leaving little for the classrooms.

However, after the 500 megabyte upgrade, the school’s WiFi will be able to handle these services, if the school chooses to do so.

Since the school will be able to handle these streaming services, it is now a possibility that they will be allowed. But why allow “distractive” services on the new filter? Well, since students sometimes have free time to kill during study hall, they may want to listen to Spotify on their devices instead of sneaking music from their phones when the teacher isn’t looking. Ms. Bishop would gladly discuss these options to any student.

The new system will not only increase internet speeds, but open doors to many new ways to access the internet, Later on, Ms. Bishop hopes to introduce different ways to change internet access by different grade levels. This would allow for the higher grades to have more access and trust than the lower grades.

Another innovative idea would be to have an incentive-based way to give extra internet accessibility, so that students might could earn enhanced acces. Turning away from iBoss is the first step toward more innovative ways to allow access to the internet.

All over the school the students responded with positive opinions of what the new system might bring to the school.  Senior Vann Crawford said “I am really excited because now my education will not be hindered.”  Juniors Ann Clardy Byrd and William Purvis seemed really excited by saying “I guess it’s cool” and “It’s gonna be sweet”.

Even the teachers glad to see improvements on the horizon. Said drama teacher Mr. Kenneth McDade, “I am wonderfully excited”.  Enhanced internet access might allow teachers new possibilities on how to teach their classes in innovative ways.   

The school has not even installed this new network yet and it seems the campus is already buzzing with excitement about the new network enhancements and all the possibilities it will behold.