Wireless network changes coming in November 2022

We are making changes to our two existing wireless networks, Fremont1_Secure and Fremont1_Guest.  These networks have been in operation since 2009, and these changes will refocus our networking resources on our primary purpose of education, as well as meet some of the trends we've been seeing the last few years, including:

  • At some sites, the number of personal devices connecting on the network is now 2-3x more than the number of district devices connecting daily.
  • Our upcoming Linewize content filtering solution (see the next page) will allow us to provide a better experience for those choosing to use their own devices, and this change will prepare for that.
  • A focus on how security overall is changing and what we can do to better align with those changes.

These changes will start rolling out the week of November 7th.
   

"Fremont1_District" will replace the existing Fremont1_Secure network

This network is intended for district-owned devices only. The secure access key will be automatically installed on all Chrome devices, and manually entered by Tech staff on any other district-owned devices that require it. The key will not be shared with users and no exceptions will be made. Other than the name and key changes, this network is functionally the same as our existing Fremont1_Secure.

"Fremont1_Visitor" will replace the existing Fremont1_Guest network

This network is open and will allow most devices to connect. However, at schools the Visitor network will be available only in public areas such as gyms, commons, and the lunchroom. This will help lessen the traffic on some classroom access points, especially on days when Apple or Google releases phone OS updates.  Speeds on Visitor will be regulated so devices cannot overuse bandwidth and potentially detract from the educational experience.

"Fremont1_BYOD" will be a new network

This open network will allow any personally-owned Chromebook, IPad, Macintosh, or Windows PC to connect. It may be used by any staff member or student, but it requires Google authentication to access and at this time only landerschools.org accounts will be accepted. As this is for educational purposes, it will not allow phones or smartwatches to connect. Traffic will not be subject to speed limitations.


What do I need to do?

If you are using a district Chromebook or Chrome desktop, you will not need to do anything.  The  new District key is already on your device so it will connect to the new network when we change over.

If you have a district IPad or a mobile PC, the key will have to be manually entered by Tech staff.  You can use the Fremont1_Visitor network until that change is made.

If you bring your own device, you can connect to BYOD as soon as it becomes available. 




Popular posts from this blog

Tech Office updates for 12-14-2022

Hello everyone!  A few updates ... Phishing test email this morning Kudos to all of you who reported or otherwise didn't fall for today's phishing email test.  We do these tests to promote awareness among our staff as well as to meet our cyber-insurance requirements.   This was our third test this semester, and we're happy to see that our click-through for this test was very low (only one person as of this email).   The email is marked [External email] in the header, and also has the yellow "External" label in Gmail.  That's enough right there to tell you it's something from outside the district. The address is from "School Principal" -- no name and not a real From: address.  Even if the [External email] labels didn't ring alarm bells, this should. Vaguely-worded email imploring you to urgently do something you wouldn't normally do, and do it right now. We will run another test series later in the spring, so be watching our newsletters fo
Read more

We're Back for the 2022-2023 school year!

Image
Hello!  It's been more than two years since we've used our Tech blog page.  So ..... we've purged all the old content and we're starting anew for the 2022-2023 school year! Going forward, we will be using this as a resource to communicate with both staff and the community.  For our staff, the blog will also replace our monthly newsletter that we've done in years past.  This will let us get articles and information out to staff in a more timely manner than waiting for a month's worth of newsletter to be typed and formatted.   We will send blog posts via email to staff as Tech updates as we post them, and we will use tags to identify posts as being for everyone, as opposed to things that might be posted just for tech managers or other groups of stsaff. Keep an eye out for postings in the next few weeks regarding: Some new and exciting professional development opportunities for District staff, from our 2019-2020 Innovations in Technology grant. Fall and spring tech
Read more

Update for Tech Managers 12-07-2022

Image
  Hello everyone!  Some quick technical-oriented updates on what we're doing this month. Wireless update ... Fremont1_BYOD The Fremont1_BYOD network is solely for non-district devices; it should not be used by any district-owned device.    If a district Chrome device does connect to it, the device will switch itself back to Secure within a minute or so.   We are hearing that some devices that should be able to connect are being disallowed, and we  are also seeing in the dashboard that devices that should NOT be allowed on BYOD are still getting on (especially Android devices).  We are reaching out to Meraki to see if there' s a way to fine- tu ne the identification settings that determine what kind of device is connecting.  If there is a student or staff member with an educational personal device who is having trouble, let us know the details and we can add it to our investigation. Wireless update ... Fremont1_District new secure network We are planning to make this network the
Read more