Network Conversation Guide

Bluebook testing can’t happen unless students have access to a properly configured network with sufficient bandwidth.

What IT Needs to Know and Do

The staff who manage the network at your testing facility need to make sure each testing room can support enough students and they need to configure the network to let required traffic pass in and out. Complete technical specifications and instructions are available at Network Readiness. 

Share some basic information about your upcoming test administration. Network administrators need to know:

• Which test you’re administering.
• When testing starts.
• If you’re planning any practice or readiness sessions before test day.
• How many students are testing at the same time.
• Which rooms you’re planning to use.
• Concurrent activities requiring significant bandwidth.
• If anyone, including those unaffiliated with your school, might need to connect to the internet on devices your school doesn’t manage. This is required for SAT Weekend. 

Complete our form and we’ll email IT staff for you.

What to Ask IT

• How confident are you that there’s enough total bandwidth to support Bluebook testing?
• Did I choose testing rooms that can support the expected number of test takers?
• Should I stagger start times by a few minutes, use different rooms, or take any other steps to avoid network issues?
• If staff or students need to connect to the guest network, what are the steps they need to take?
• Who can configure the network for testing?
• Who can I contact if I need help with the network on test day?

Complete the network readiness worksheet together.

Network Concepts

Configuration: When technology staff configure your network, they’re using software to change settings, usually to control what comes in and goes out. They might turn some controls on or off or allow traffic from certain domains (such as collegeboard.org) to pass through content filters and firewalls.

Guest Wi-Fi: Schools often use guest Wi-Fi to provide internet access to devices they don’t manage without giving them access to the main network.

Offline testing: An internet connection is required at the start and end of the test, but students can keep testing if their connection drops momentarily.

Bandwidth spikes: Network demands vary throughout test day, with the highest demands at the start and end of testing. That’s why asking some proctors to start testing just a few minutes after the others can minimize risk.

Total bandwidth: Your building has a maximum bandwidth that must be shared across devices. 

Competing activity: Because bandwidth is shared, your test takers will compete with other activities. They could experience delays if, for example, other students are watching videos or IT is running a system update. 

Wireless access point (WAP): A WAP is network hardware that makes Wi-Fi possible by broadcasting signals throughout the building. Some rooms may share a single WAP while others have more than one. Each WAP can handle a finite number of devices; capacity varies widely from model to model.

Network settings on testing devices: Some device settings limit how the device connects to the internet and filter content, leading to issues on test day.