Do you let pupils use their own laptops?

[altecsole]

We have had a number of students bringing their own laptops into school and plugging them into our network.

What policy's do others have in place with regard to this?

What measures do you have in place to restrict access? We're looking at using IPSec to secure the network. Does anyone else do this?

Thanks for reading and replying.

[Geoff]

I don't see how this is any different from teachers laptops.

[ChrisH]

I don't see how this is any different from teachers laptops.

Teachers dont sit there in the staffroom at break trying to get upto alsorts of mischief with some "tools" they downloaded of the net the night before

[Geoff]

Yeah that's what I mean. Normally if I had a teacher using their laptop at home on their net connection they get zero access to the school network.

I basically ask them to choose when they get the laptop. Either they use it on the school network or they use it at home. Not both.

Anyway, if your not willing to fix the problem with policy. Use 802.11x network authentication on your switches. If the machine isn't on the domain, it can't get a connection.

[NetworkGeezer]

File and print is the really tricky area because it requires domain access. On the otherhand, access only to the internet is easier to separate from the main network because you have Dansguardian or ISA setup, right? If you have remote access through a VLE Learning Gateway then so much the better kills two birds with one stone.

[sahmeepee]

Quoth Geoff:

I basically ask them to choose when they get the laptop. Either they use it on the school network or they use it at home. Not both.

I do exactly the same as this (for staff). Very occasionally they plug them in without asking, but I monitor for it! Kids plugging their laptops in receive a bollocking.

Quoth NetworkGeezer:

On the otherhand, access only to the internet is easier to separate from the main network because you have Dansguardian or ISA setup, right? If you have remote access through a VLE Learning Gateway then so much the better kills two birds with one stone.

I've been aspiring to this for some time now. My thinking was that giving them access to a separate wireless network of that nature would reduce the temptation to plug in and be much easier to keep sanitized. I'd still be wary of allowing internet access though, unless it was filtered stupidly harshly, because without logins there's no accountability (as i see it).

[Geoff]

I'd still be wary of allowing internet access though, unless it was filtered stupidly harshly, because without logins there's no accountability (as i see it).

Plus, you'd be liable if they started abusing your internet connection for hacking/spamming/etc purposes.

It's a grey area I'd rather stay away from personally.

[Pottsey]

I let them bring them in but they have to let me give the laptop a quick check-up to see what’s installed and to make sure its virus free. Being a small school it’s also easy to monitor laptop and network usage. If I was in a large school I would have second thoughts.

[Ric_]

I'm toying with selling airspace to kids when i get the wireless all set up. i'll allow them access to Citirx and nothing else. could be a money maker

[pete]

Nope, far too many risks / hassle involved. Having seen the state of some of our teacher's home machines, who knows what I'd find on the kids boxen.

No-one gets to plug things into my network, student or otherwise.... unless the school owns it and they're prepared to lose admin access.

And besides, there's at least 5 unsecure wireless networks within range of the school - the last thing we need are l33t hax0r d00dz annoying our neighbours.

[Quackers]

Luckly its not a problem at the moment, if students ask i say no. I remember not so long ago a student teacher said can i use my laptop on the network just for internet. My reply was does it have upto date antivirus software on it? She said yes, i believed her and in she plugged. 3 minutes later phone call "all the machines keep shutting down in the library". Hello Blaster.................. library was the only place still running SP1 XP.

I was not happy. I would not let kids plug there kit in if i was you.

[Ric_]

@quackers: It depends on your security. With Bluesocket you can set up an SSID that has its own VLAN which only routes traffic on specific ports to specific destinations. By doing this you can pretty much secure anything.

Combining the above setup with Citrix and disallowing access to local disks and devices should also help prevent any harm coming to my lovely network

[GrumbleDook]

Or if ypu don't want Blue Socket, then Vernier is another option.