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I've got to ask...why? If the schools don't already have WiFi, they don't have curriculums that could use it. Or they have internet access that's wired and no c

I've got to ask...why? If the schools don't already have WiFi, they don't have curriculums that could use it. Or they have internet access that's wired and no computers that would be on the WiFi anyway, and then you're just connecting kids' phones (which already have internet). Besides the wild amounts of red tape in the US that the other commenters mention, don't you think what you're doing is creepy? If I had kids, I 100% would NOT want some random guy to be using his own money to build a WiFi network in my kid's school. The optics of that are terrible. How do I know you're not going to be creeping on the network traffic? There's no obvious reason for you to 1) want to do this project and 2) not just give the money to the schools' existing IT staff to do it (and I'm sure most districts would gladly accept a gift like that). Seriously, why do YOU need to be the one doing it?

jjordan 3y ago
Who do you think actually builds out the wifi networks at schools? It's not exactly the Fine Arts teacher running CAT6 and creating subnets for the different departments. It's better to assume positive intent until proven otherwise when people want to help out their communities.
- theandrewbailey 3y ago
  > It's better to assume positive intent until proven otherwise when people want to help out their communities. That might work in places like Japan or Scandinavia where there's high social trust. People in other places are very suspicious when a rando wants to be around everyone's kids.
- bastawhiz 3y ago
  Asking "I'm an IT guy for a school district and I'm looking for guidance on WiFi" is very different from "I want to put Wifi in the schools." Even if the op is indeed doing it from a place of good intent, I really, really struggle to read this ask as being from someone inside the schools already. They didn't say "my schools" or "our schools". They said "login at any school in the city", not something like "any of the schools I manage" or "any schools in the district". Even for someone who doesn't speak English as their first language, the word choice consistently suggests OP is an external third party. Maybe it's a very American concern of mine, but I simply do not trust anyone who is proactively trying to do something like this as a benevolent third party. And you probably shouldn't either! Would you sleep well at night knowing that some random guy external to your kid's school (with ~no governance or accountability) has unfettered access to their WiFi?

jjordan 3y ago

Who do you think actually builds out the wifi networks at schools? It's not exactly the Fine Arts teacher running CAT6 and creating subnets for the different departments. It's better to assume positive intent until proven otherwise when people want to help out their communities.

theandrewbailey 3y ago
> It's better to assume positive intent until proven otherwise when people want to help out their communities. That might work in places like Japan or Scandinavia where there's high social trust. People in other places are very suspicious when a rando wants to be around everyone's kids.
bastawhiz 3y ago
Asking "I'm an IT guy for a school district and I'm looking for guidance on WiFi" is very different from "I want to put Wifi in the schools." Even if the op is indeed doing it from a place of good intent, I really, really struggle to read this ask as being from someone inside the schools already. They didn't say "my schools" or "our schools". They said "login at any school in the city", not something like "any of the schools I manage" or "any schools in the district". Even for someone who doesn't speak English as their first language, the word choice consistently suggests OP is an external third party. Maybe it's a very American concern of mine, but I simply do not trust anyone who is proactively trying to do something like this as a benevolent third party. And you probably shouldn't either! Would you sleep well at night knowing that some random guy external to your kid's school (with ~no governance or accountability) has unfettered access to their WiFi?