Getting Back to School with the help of All West

Summer days are dwindling, and parents are preparing to send their kids back to school. The past year and a half has been filled with uncertainty. Students, parents, and teachers are hopeful about returning to a more normal school year this fall. All West wants to make sure your household is prepared for a new school year.

Make sure you have enough bandwidth:

Internet speed is crucial for students and parents alike. Make sure household has what it needs for the school year to avoid waiting for buffering videos, web pages loading slowly, video calls being out of sync, slow downloads, and more. Check out our guide to see what internet speed is right for you.

Practice Internet safety:

We should always be practicing internet safety and cyber security, but the back to school season is a good time to refresh our memories on what we should and shouldn’t do.

-Update your passwords: Experts recommend that people update their passwords at least a few times a year. Create long, strong, and unique passwords and be careful not to reuse passwords across multiple accounts. Check out our password do’s and don’ts.

-Use caution on public Wi-Fi: Whether you’re at a coffee shop or the library, be careful when connecting to public Wi-Fi. Never access or share personal or financial information over an unsecure network, where cyber criminals can easily steal your details.

-Engage in conversations with your kids about being good digital citizens. Discuss the signs, causes, and effects of cyberbullying and who to reach out to when there is an issue.

-Encourage your teens to keep their accounts private and only friend people they know. Discourage any posting of personal information, such as location (hometown or school name). Posting when one is home alone or out of town shows predators that you or your possessions are in a vulnerable position.

-Use parental controls with age-appropriate content filters and website blocks so kids don’t accidentally land on inappropriate content. As well as scheduling screen time limits and internet freezes for individual devices to keep kids on task and focused on homework. All West has partnered Plume which gives parents a variety of tools to manage their kid’s internet use. Learn more here.

Device Hygiene:

                The spread of Covid-19 is slowing and society is getting back to normal. It is essential we exercise good practices so we can ensure our kids can stay in school. Follow these tips to avoid as many germs as possible.

1. 1. Clean your devices at least once a day
   2. Use a cloth dampened with at least 70% isopropyl alcohol or disinfecting wipe. Do not spray cleaning solution directly on device.
   3. Keep liquids and moisture away from any openings on the device.

At All West your connection is our commitment and we want to help you get off to a great start for this school year. Our customer care team is standing by to help answer your technology questions or help you upgrade your speed at 866.255.9378 or help@allwest.com.