Introducing segmentation to a school’s network
During the first school visit your assigned IT partner will work with you to build a personalised design for your Wi-Fi network, using input from the Technical Survey alongside standard templates. By default, this would look something like “Staff, Student, Guest” segmentation. This can be adjusted to fit your school’s needs.
Adding sections to your school’s Wi-Fi network
When setting up Secure Access, your assigned IT partner will visit your school. They’ll check out your current Wi-Fi set-up and then plan a new one. They’ll divide your Wi-Fi into different areas or “segments,” like one for teachers, another for students, and one for visitors. This set-up can be tailored to fit your school’s needs.
What does splitting the Wi-Fi into sections mean?
Think of your school as a big building with lots of different rooms. Each room is for a different subject, like maths or English. In your Wi-Fi, these rooms are the segments. Each segment is for a different group of people using the Wi-Fi.
Controlling who can access each part of the Wi-Fi
Devices can only talk to other devices in certain parts of the Wi-Fi if they’re allowed. For instance, students can’t access the teachers’ part of the network. If there’s a problem in one part, like a virus, it won’t spread to the other parts.
Making sure only the right devices connect to the Wi-Fi
Before a device (like a laptop or phone) can connect to the Wi-Fi, it needs to prove who it is. It’s like showing an ID card before entering a room. The Wi-Fi checks if the device is allowed to connect. If it is, the device can use the Wi-Fi. If not, it can’t connect.
Checking who someone is before they connect to the Wi-Fi
Before anyone can use the Wi-Fi, they need to log in with a username and password. The system checks if they’re allowed on the Wi-Fi and decides which part they can use.
- For students: when a student logs in, the system checks if they’re a student and then lets them use the student part of the Wi-Fi.
- For teachers: teachers logging in can access more parts of the Wi-Fi, like areas for teaching and administrative work.
- For visitors: guests get limited access, just enough to use the internet, cast or print but not to see private school information.
Using Secure Access, schools can keep their Wi-Fi organised and safe, giving the right access to the right people and keeping others out.
Who’s setting up Secure Access for my school? Can my IT provider do it?
N4L has appointed a panel of highly-skilled IT companies to set up Secure Access and onboard devices in schools. The work done by your assigned IT partner is funded by the Ministry of Education as part of the Te Mana Tūhono programme, with the exception of connecting third-party devices.
More information on this can be found here: FAQs Secure Access (n4l.co.nz)
Knowledge check:
Secure Access is the final phase of a Wi-Fi upgrade under what programme?
- N4L Secure programme
- Te Mana Tūhono programme
- Network migration programme
Secure Access is best described as?
- Network access control
- Guest access
- Computer management