Providing Home Internet Access to Students

According to the Associated Press, 18% of US students do not have access to broadband internet and 17% do not have access to computers at home. And while some homes have broadband connectivity, data rates may have significantly slowed due to heavy usage by people working from home. Rochelle’s school district recently obtained laptops for all students who didn’t have one, but she needs to get everyone connected online and learning.

Her colleague Thomas, from another district, recommended that Rochelle explore school bus WiFi as a solution to her connectivity challenges. She assembled a team to map out the locations of students in her district who reported they were without internet access. While many were located in close proximity to one another, she found outliers. Students that were outside the most populated areas - ones that were normally bused in from a great distance away. So while WiFi-enabled buses addressed connecting over 95% of the student body, a large number of students still wouldn't see the benefits of her SmartBus initiative.  She needed a second solution.

USAT, a resale partner of Sierra Wireless, helped equip her school buses with WiFi.  She decided to reach out to them again to see what solution they could offer for those students located around the fringes of her district. USAT offered up the the AirLink® ES450 LTE router is an out-of-the-box solution. Rochelle could order routers for each student, and have them shipped to their homes, allowing them to instantly connect to the internet and their learning content.

Using AirLink® Management Service (ALMS) from Sierra Wireless, Rochelle can remotely configure, deploy and monitor all the ES450 devices being used by students, and deliver security and functional updates with a single command. And with automatic, alerts let her know what devices are online, and when those devices go off-line.

With the routers delivered and running, and the school buses deployed on their rounds, she was able to ensure all students gained secure access to the distance learning materials they needed. Rochelle, and her IT team, are resting easier knowing she can direct students to only approved websites while maintaining secure connections to the schools network.