Connecting to Wi-Fi

At School

Your school-issued Chromebook should automatically try to connect to the GCS network when you power on your Chromebook in or around any GCSD building or Wifi-equipped school bus. This is a secure network, accessible only to anyone who is logged into their device using an @greenvilleschools.us account.

Guests/non-GCS accounts are provided the option to connect to the GCS-Guest network when they are in or around any GCSD building or school bus. This network, however, is not as secure and therefore has stricter firewalls. Students who connect to the GCS-Guest network may find that they are unable to access some of their more commonly-used sites.

Off Campus

To connect to Wifi away from school:

Step 1: Turn on Wi-Fi

  • At the bottom right, select the time.

  • Select Not Connected. (Note: If you see your Wi-Fi network name and a signal strength, your Chromebook is already connected.)

  • Turn on Wi-Fi.

  • Your Chromebook will load a list of available networks.

Step 2: Pick a trusted network and connect!

  • Enter a password, if prompted.

Don't forget to authenticate your trusted network once you've connected! View the 3-step instructions to authenticate.

If you're still having issues after connecting and authenticating, the video above offers other things you can try to fix your connection problem.

Home Wi-Fi

Your home Wi-Fi is probably (hopefully!!) password-protected. If you aren't sure what your home Wi-Fi network is named or what the password is, talk with a parent/guardian for help.

Public Wi-Fi

Always be careful when connecting to open Wi-Fi networks! While it may be convenient, it is also open for anyone to use, including hackers who may try to snipe information from other devices on that network. They may even be the ones who own that network! If you choose to use an open Wi-Fi network at a business, check with an employee to make sure you are connecting to the correct network. Many of these will also require a password, anyways, and employees will be happy to share it with you if it is available for visitors to access.

GCS authentication icon

Wi-Fi Authentication

Once you're connected to an Off-Campus network, you must then authenticate the network. This let's the Greenville County Schools firewall system know that you trust the network you're accessing. View the instructions to authenticate here.

If you don't authenticate, you can expect to have extremely limited access to the internet on your school Chromebook. It may be an annoying step, but it helps keep you, your Chromebook, and your information safe from online predators!

Working Offline

By checking Offline Sync in your Google Drive settings, you can access most of your work, edit documents, and create new ones when you don't have access to Wi-Fi. *Please note that you will need to be connected to Wi-Fi to enable Offline Sync.

Access your Google Drive at school in order to change your settings. Select the Settings icon (gear) in the top right corner of your Google Drive. A window will appear that features several Google Drive Settings options.

Check the box next to Offline that says "Sync your work to this computer so that you can edit offline."

You now should be able to create or edit Google Documents, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings. Some features may not work offline, such as adding images, but there is still plenty you can do in the meantime.

Once you reconnect to a Wi-Fi network, log into your Google Drive and the changes you made while offline will update!