Category: Compliance

How to Make the Most of COVID-19 Education Technology Grants

Choosing Network Equipment for Remote Learning There are many sources for finding appropriate laptops or tablets, but finding the best network solutions can be more…

lastmileearth August 12, 2021

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Choosing Network Equipment for Remote Learning

There are many sources for finding appropriate laptops or tablets, but finding the best network solutions can be more difficult, especially for rural students.

1. Accommodating Rural Students

Rural families often have few if any broadband service options. In the future, Starlink and 5G should ease this problem. For now, many users end up turning to Wi-Fi hotspots that rely on mobile data networks.

These hotspots come with their own limitations. First, they require a mobile data signal, which isn’t always available in rural homes. Second, hotspots often have a shorter maximum range than Wi-Fi routers, and they may have a hard time getting signals through obstructions like walls. Finally, hotspots typically only handle 3–5 active devices. These factors can cause problems for large, rural families.

Routers do not have these same limitations, but they don’t generally work with mobile data networks. Software-defined wide-area networks (SD-WAN) like SimpleWAN provide a convenient alternative to hotspots, with many of the advantages of routers and the ability to integrate with a variety of networks, including 4G and 5G.

2. Simplifying Troubleshooting

Fixing network errors is always harder when the equipment is spread across many students’ homes. You want to do everything you can to simplify the process, and that means buying uniform equipment when possible.

When students are using a hodgepodge of carrier-provided routers and hotspots, your staff needs to be familiar with troubleshooting methods specific to each brand and model.

If all of your students are using the same network equipment, your staff will become familiar with their specific technical issues. They can develop standard operating procedures and a knowledge base to quickly and reliably solve many of the most common problems.

3. Maintaining CIPA Compliance

Some of these grants, including the ECF, require that recipients maintain Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) compliance. CIPA requires that schools and libraries have in place protections to prevent children from accessing obscene or harmful materials over the internet.

Some hotspots can be purchased pre-configured with CIPA compliance through third-party filtering services. The upside is that these hotspots automatically maintain compliance. The downside, though, is that the school often has little or no ability to modify the filters. If students need access to an incorrectly filtered site, the school staff may not be able to help. Custom content filtering like that available with SimpleWAN provides a more universal solution.

Remote Learning Made Better

Making the most of COVID-19 remote learning funds means picking the best tools, including network equipment. These tools should ease the burden on school staff and maximize the learning potential of students.

Schedule a demo to discover how SimpleWAN can offer an easy-to-use, uniform, CIPA-compliant networking solution that fits the needs of all of your students.

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