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Computers, Internet Connections & Browsers
Please read this information very carefully. Most Helpdesk calls from students come in because student computers do not meet the technology requirements!
1) Access to Computer | Internet Connection
• If you are taking online courses, you must have access to a computer. However, simply having a computer is not enough. Your computer must meet certain requirements to support an online course at our college.
• Computer labs are available on campus, but it is quite difficult to take a distance education course without having a computer and high-speed internet connection at home or on your campus.
• It's all about speed! For the most part, bigger and faster is better. Computer speed is measured by the size of the CPU (Central Processing Unit) in Megahertz (MHz) or Gigahertz (GHz) such as 1.8 GHz or 3.0 Ghz. Requirements change quickly as the Web changes. For the most part, if you have a computer that is less than three years old, you should have a machine that is fast enough to manage the web content.
Another measure of a computer's ability to perform quickly when browsing the Web is the amount of memory or RAM (measured in Megabytes or MB). Your computer will perform much better with the online course applications if you have at least 256MB of RAM. 512MB, 1 GB or more is even better. (Computer geeks will tell you: You can never have too much RAM).
The third measure of speed would be your modem speed and type of Internet connection.
- If you have dial-up Internet access through your phone company a 28.8 modem will likely be very slow or not work at all.
- A 33.6 or 56K modem is better, but will still be slow for most content.
- If you live in an area with access to Mediacom online, they now offer speeds 128 x faster than the 56K dial-up.
- In some communities DSL or ADSL is now available from your phone company. This also provides very fast connection speeds with only one phone line for both voice and Internet connection at the same time.
- Cellular network “aircards” present some of the same problems as dial-up, are inferior to DSL or cable broadband, and can be problematic in some classes.
- Wireless connections to the Internet are faster than dial-up and also available in some communities.
- Your local community library may be a good place to start if you don't have a computer and need access to the internet.
• We do not recommend that you try to take an online course through a dial-up connection.
• ALERT for Satellite Service Users: Satellite connections, such as Wild Blue, may not fulfill the minimum technical requirements for using ANGEL. You may experience timeouts, IP address issues, session problems, or course mail issues caused by latency. You should make every effort to use ANGEL with a different service provider. You may have problems responding to emails, uploading attachments and the like. For additional information, you may refer to this link. Also, you may want to check the FAP (Fair Use Policy) of your satellite internet provider.
2) System Check on Your Login Page
Look at the System Check nugget and read all of the announcements. Get familiar with links under Institutional Resources. This page is frequently updated.
3) Browser
For detailed information, please check this link: Everything You Need to Know About ANGEL.
If your operating system is Windows, you should install Internet Explorer 7 or above or Firefox 3.6 or above. Please note that Internet Explorer 6 and earlier are not compatible with the ANGEL software.
If your operating System is Macintosh, you should install the latest Firefox, Chrome, or Safari browser.
UPDATE: After May 8, 2012, Google Chrome and Apple's Safari browsers are now compatible with the
latest version of ANGEL.
Mobile browsers: While they may work for some tasks, such as content reading or downloading files, you may find it impossible to reply to e-mails, submit assessments, or open attachments.