Building a school Wi-Fi network

For those of us who went to school during or around the age of the BBC Micro or Archimedes, the words “school network” evoke a room full of beige boxes and cables. But computer years, just like dog years, pass at their own pace. Bring your own device (BYOD) enabled Wi-Fi school networks are shaping the age of a more dynamic approach to intellectual pursuits, a closer match of this generation’s educational needs.

The requirements of educational institutions are unique, and the networking industry has had a hard time meeting them. A school is nothing like a bank. Students and teachers are nothing like corporate employees. And their requirements go beyond the comfortable realm of technical requirements.

More than in any other field, the success of building a school Wi-Fi network depends on defining and understanding requirements – technical and commercial as well as social and interpersonal.

How do we go about building this understanding? We start from the first principles: the educational benefits that faster, frictionless network access can provide, and the technical and non-technical issues that need to be solved before those benefits can be delivered.

Coverage and Performance 102

Network coverage is a flaky subject. We tend to think of it only in terms of signal strength. Network coverage is basically a fancy way of saying “This is how far I can go before I see no bars on my phone”.

But this is not a complete picture. Wireless access points have a fixed bandwidth, and a fixed number of simultaneous clients that they can support. A “strong” connection can still be slow in a crowded area, or you may see frequent disconnects.

To make matters worse, RF signal propagation is not too straightforward, either. Signal quality depends on building shape and material, on the placement of clients and wireless access points, and on the shape and material of the obstacles between them. It is not a function of distance alone.

So how do we know where to place Wi-Fi access points, and how many of them are needed?

There is a simple answer: through a wi-fi survey.

A Wi-Fi or wireless survey, sometimes known as an RF (Radio Frequency) survey, is a process that measures and records cellular and Wi-Fi coverage in a specific area. We conduct this survey to map how RF signals propagate and decay throughout your premises.

This provides one critical half of the puzzle. The other critical half is an understanding of how each area is used, and by how many people.

The second essential part of the puzzle involves understanding how each area is used and by how many people. This tells us the required coverage in quantitative terms—what signal strength is needed and for how many devices. The RF survey informs us about the necessary equipment and its optimal placement to meet these requirements.

Conducting an RF survey is crucial for successfully deploying a Wi-Fi network within a reasonable timeframe. While an educated guess might suffice for a small office, it won’t work for large campuses and buildings with multiple classrooms, labs, and offices. In such environments, guesswork can lead to quick installation followed by months of adjusting routers, purchasing additional access points, and running new cables.

Wi-Fi access points are just the visible part of the network. Clients connect to the Wi-Fi network via these access points and routers, which must be connected to your core network and the Internet. This infrastructure is typically wired, requiring some cable installation. However, installing or upgrading Wi-Fi access points usually doesn’t affect existing networking gear. You might need additional switching equipment if expanding your network, but your current equipment can usually remain in use, provided it still meets your needs.

Content Filtering

One of the main concerns when it comes to Wi-Fi networks and Bring your own device (BYOD) is content filtering. Can it still be done efficiently when everyone is using their own devices, and accessing the same network?

The problem is complicated by the need for flexible filtering. On one hand, it is important to be able to restrict access to unsafe content on school grounds. On the other hand, an inflexible access control system, which forbids access to legitimate educational content, can render a school’s network useless for many educational activities.

The good news? This late in the 21st century, content filtering is largely software-controlled. Who can access what can be decided ad-hoc based on their access credentials, regardless of what device they entered them on. If your school has a network – wired or wireless – that was deployed anywhere in the last fifteen years, chances are that’s how it’s done there as well.

The bad news is that some systems (especially ones that have been in place for a long time) can use a mix of access criteria based on credentials and based on location. For example, they filter content for computers in the library, or the cafeteria, regardless of who’s accessing them.

Migrating to a wireless infrastructure does require some extra effort, but it is certainly achievable. This work is worthwhile, as a more intuitive approach to content filtering and access control will make your system easier and more cost-effective to manage while also providing greater flexibility.

Data Security

Closely related to the challenge of controlling access to external content is the issue of managing access to internal content.

Under UK law, schools are responsible for the security of confidential and personal data. Even beyond legal requirements, certain documents and records must be accessible to specific individuals.

While having this data available over the network can be beneficial, it also poses risks when accessed via a shared network.

The rise of content and document management systems has shifted the challenge of electronic access control to a largely software-driven approach. Nevertheless, an effective security policy often necessitates maintaining separate networks for handling sensitive data.

Well-designed Wi-Fi networks can facilitate the implementation of such security measures. At a minimum, the design and deployment of your Wi-Fi network should align with your established security policies.

Long-Term Budgeting and Maintenance

Integration: Challenges and Opportunities

Until not so long ago, we were used to thinking about the school’s computer network as an auxiliary tool. We thought of it as infrastructure to some degree, but not the way whiteboards and sports grounds are infrastructure.

This is no longer the case anymore, especially in universities. For many educational institutions in the UK, the network is an essential part of the teaching and administrative infrastructure.

It’s a challenging situation. Schools have plenty of old, but perfectly working systems that need to be integrated into the same network that also has to cater to young adults, teenagers and nine year-old children.

The good news is that Wi-Fi networking is a well-understood technology that often complements other types of networks, rather than replacing them. Virtually any equipment you have can be bridged to a wireless network.

A well-designed Wi-Fi network can be more than a more accessible version of its wired predecessor. It opens completely new avenues, such as:

Using Wifi CCTV cameras, which can be easier and cheaper to deploy and manage than their wired counterparts

Deploying Wi-Fi-enabled HVAC, lighting control systems, and other IoT (Internet of Things) equipment. These systems enable tighter and more fine-grained control over energy consumption, reducing your carbon footprint and energy bills.

Delivering educational content on-demand, in informal or unconventional settings throughout the campus.

Making the most out of your investment is more than just staying within budget. Wi-Fi is a very flexible technology in schools – and it gets you a very flexible infrastructure.

Conclusions

Few voices in the industry recognise how uniquely challenging Wi-Fi school networks are. At first sight, a school Wi-Fi network is like an enterprise network, except most of its users are teenagers.

But this is hardly an accurate description. School Wi-Fi networks tend to have more diverse client devices and a more diverse user base and pose unique security challenges, with a unique social dimension to them.

ACCL has been installing Wi-Fi networks in London schools for over two decades and offering networking services for more. We are very familiar with all the challenges that today’s UK schools face and we’re happy to do our part in helping you deal with some of them.

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