How to connect to the new wireless network called Aruba

Starting on April 16, 2014 the Fremd High School technology staff will begin installing a new wireless network which is scheduled for completion by April 30. During the two week installation period you may notice some inconsistency with connecting to the wireless network. The following information should help you to overcome any problems that you may face.

What is Aruba?
The new hardware is made by Aruba Networks, which sounds very promising, doesn't it? Who doesn't like Aruba? I bet it never snows in Aruba on April 14. Sorry, I've digressed. The new Aruba access points will improve the speed of the Internet and can handle more devices like laptops, iPads, and cell phones compared to the last set of access points. It will help the school keep up with the demand related to being a full 1:1 school starting in August 2014.

Aruba also gives the tech staff the ability to control the flow of data to make sure that school-issued devices like iPads have first priority over cell phone use. The devices used for teaching and learning will have better access to the Internet even when demand is high.

How do you connect to the Aruba access points?
When you are using your school-issued laptop you will not need to do anything to connect to Aruba. Your computer is already set up to connect automatically.

For your school-issued iPad you will have to sign in to the new network just once. To sign in to the Aruba network on your iPad go to Settings ->Wi-Fi -> and then choose D211-Mobile as your network. You will be asked to enter a username (your school computer login such as ksorensen in my case) and a password (your school computer password).  Your iPad will keep the network settings you enter so you will rarely have to log in again.

What about cell phones, laptops, tablets, and other devices brought from home? Any device owned by you and not the school should use the Guest network which does not require a username or password.

Troubleshooting
For two weeks there will be two systems running at the same time: the new Aruba network and the old Meru network. There can be conflicts especially when moving between rooms. The best tip to follow if your computer or iPad does not automatically connect to the Internet is to check your network settings. Laptops should be connected to D211 while iPads should be connected to D211-Mobile (new Aruba network) or Student 1:1 (old network) depending on where you are in the building. If you need assistance at any time please visit the Technology Center and we will be happy to help you.

The end result
On April 30 there will only be one system - Aruba. School-issued laptops will connect to the D211 network, school-issued iPads will connect to the D211-Mobile network, and all other personal devices will connect to the Guest network.

Apple TV
To use an Apple TV your iPad and the actual Apple TV device must be on the same network. We have already made changes that will allow you to continue using your Apple TV after the network change. As long as the Apple TV is on the Student 1:1 network and your iPad is on D211-Mobile (new Aruba network) or Student 1:1 (old network) then you can continue to use your Apple TV just as you had before.

Better Internet access for your personally-owned computer or phone

Our district previously had two wireless networks for a majority of our data.  There was the network for district-owned computers, and there was the guest network for all other devices.  The guest network was fine if you didn't have any other options for getting on the Internet, but it simply wasn't as good as the district network where the Internet seemed faster and it was filtered less stringently than the guest network.

Cell phone users were especially frustrated by the guest network, though.  The Internet provided by your cell phone company is completely unfiltered, which lets you access Facebook among other things.  People would rather be on their own Internet rather than the guest network for this reason.  Unfortunately, our high schools were built before cell phones were invented, and there are many places in our buildings where there is simply no cell phone reception.   You could see students and staff alike cringe as they walked deeper into the school, not because of their upcoming class but because they knew their cell phone would lose reception... right about... here (draw an imaginary line on the ground right now).

This year, the district has created a new wireless network called StaffNet which fixes the problem by allowing you to have better, faster Internet on any device you own.  Your Kindle Fire, Nexus 7, Mac laptop, iPad, and of course your cell phone will now be filtered less and will have faster speeds on the Internet.

Choose StaffNet from the list of wireless connections, then open up an Internet browser.  You will be asked to "Login for Web Authentication", which is the nerdy way of saying, "What's the username and password you use when you log on to your school computer or email?"  Enter the correct information and you will have the same Internet access that you currently have on your district-owned computer.

And it's okay to bring in that Kindle Fire, Nexus 7, and Mac laptop all at once.  This summer we added new access points that can handle 7,000 more devices across the district.  The bandwidth was also increased from 240mbps to 340 mbps and next summer it is expected to rise to over 500mbps.