How to setup a small simple network in a small school with 10 laptops & no wifi

rodrig

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We just purchased 10 re-imaged laptops with Windows 7 Professional 32-bit. Below is a listing of software on the image and the specs on the machines:

Dell Latitude E6400:
Processor: Core 2 Duo 2.66Ghz
Screen: 14.1WXGA
Hard drive: 160GB 7200rpm
DVD+/-RW: 8X
Memory: 2 or 4 GB

Software Installed:
Windows 7 Professional 32-bit
Adobe Reader XI
Afobe Flash Player
Power DVD 8.2
Roxio DE 10.3
Windows Security Essentials (Anti-Virus)
Windows Live Essentials (Photo Gallery, Movie maker, etc.)

We have maybe $1,000 left in our budget.

There is no wifi and no Internet. They may have later but cannot rely on that.

The target age is 5th to 6th grade girls for homework and research.

We need to make this very easy for someone with basic skills to sustain the lab after it is setup.

With our additional funds, to complete the lab, we would like to purchase:

- a very small inexpensive high quality B&W Laser Printer
- (2) cartridges for the printer
- (10) mice and mousepads
- 16 port switch (D-Link or Net Gear or other?)
- (11) 25 ft. Ethernet cables
- (2) or (3) surge protectors
- We have Office 2003 but could afford to buy (2) student + home (5 licenses per box) but it is only good for ONE year. Have also discussed installing Open Office on the laptops?
-Anything else recommended we need for this small lab?

We want to build the simplest network possible with very simple functions and would love to hear advice on how to do/best way to accomplish with our budget, where best to buy or any other expertise you can provide.

We do need to put in Parental Control for Internet access and to not allow for example Facebook use at school.

Do we need a server computer or could we do this without one to simplify?
What is the fastest way to install Office software on all 10 laptops?

We have some technical knowledge but neither of us have ever set up a network before or networked a printer. Please educate us on what would be the best and simplest or easiest setup for these girls and for someone else with basic skills to support on a daily basis.


Thank you so much in advance!
 
Solution
I've used Office 2003, 2007, 2010, and Open Office. While Open Office is nice and free, I found I didn't like it as much. I've been spoiled by using Office for almost the past 20 years. If I really couldn't afford the real thing I would of course use Open Office (I did for a year or so). It's close to MS-Office, but not quite the same. I've heard from others that it can't do some things that MS-Office does, but I did not find that to be the case in my limited use of it.

The only thing that makes wireless harder is that you have to set up security, first on the router and then on each client that is going to use the wireless signal. It's not that hard to do, but it IS more work that doing nothing, which is what wired is.

You have...

mbreslin1954

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How are you getting your Internet access? Is it through a modem/router, or just a modem?

If you already have a router supplied with your Internet access, then all you really need is a switch and your network is setup for you. Just connect the laptops and printer(s). One of the jobs of a router is to supply IP addresses to devices when they request them upon bootup, so you don't have to manage the assignment of IP addresses.

If you don't already have a router for the building and to share your Internet access, you'll need to get one and set it up. That is the only thing there is to "setting up a network", is the router configuration. The rest is just connecting cables.

You don't say if you want to use or provide wireless networking to your lab, you just say that you don't already have it. Do you want to go wireless? If so then you'll need a wireless router, and that requires more work to set up.
 

mbreslin1954

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Wireless is just a way to interconnect computers without wires. That's all it is. It's harder to set up but much more flexible (you don't have to run wires and you can move equipment around easily). But it's also not as fast as wired.

Internet is a separate issue. It has nothing to do with weather your PCs are connected to a network with wires or via radios (that's how wireless and wifi work, using radio waves).

Since you don't have an Internet connection yet, you can take that out of the equation and decide if you want to wire your PCs together or use wireless. All laptops come with wireless capability, most also have an Ethernet port (wired networking port) on them, it looks like a fat phone jack.
 

rodrig

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Feb 14, 2014
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How much harder is wireless to set up? I only looked into purchasing wired. What do I need to purchase and I need to learn how to do it. Do you have any suggestion on software - Office 2003, Office 2013, or Open Office?
 

mbreslin1954

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I've used Office 2003, 2007, 2010, and Open Office. While Open Office is nice and free, I found I didn't like it as much. I've been spoiled by using MS-Office for almost the past 20 years. If I really couldn't afford the real thing I would of course use Open Office (I did for a year or so). It's close to MS-Office, but not quite the same. I've heard from others that it can't do some things that MS-Office does, but I did not find that to be the case in my limited use of it.

The only thing that makes wireless harder is that you have to set up security, first on the router and then on each client that is going to use the wireless signal. It's not that hard to do, but it IS more work that doing nothing, which is what wired is.

You have to log on to a router to set it up anyway, either wired or wireless. With wireless you'll just have an extra step of configuring the wireless and the wireless security, it's not a big deal for me, but if you haven't had any experience with routers, well, it's an extra thing you'll have to follow along in the manual.

So the first thing you need to do is:
1) Decide on wired vs. wireless
2) Get a router
3) Get a switch if you're going wired

Most routers have only four Ethernet ports on the back, which limits your wired connections to four. If you go wired and you need to connect more than four devices, then you'll need a network switch to provide those. Network switches are just dumb OSI layer 2 devices, they essentially make a local area network (LAN). They do not do any routing. Routing is a function of layer 3, the Internet. That's the layer that is aware of other networks and how to get to them. Routers are what comprise the Internet, they hold routing tables in memory and route packets between other routers until the packets get to their destinations. You need one router in your building, and when you get Internet, it is the device that will connect you. Think of a switch as a dumb device that connects devices on a network. It does not hand out IP addresses, it is totally passive.

I doubt you need a server in your lab. If you need to share files each workstation can share folders, files, and printers. You can even designate one PC (the teacher's?) as sort of a server, to share out some folders and maybe a classroom printer. Or better yet, get a printer that connects directly to the network (wired or wireless), that cuts out the need for a PC to be on "serving" access to the printer.

Hope this helps.
 

mbreslin1954

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I've used Office 2003, 2007, 2010, and Open Office. While Open Office is nice and free, I found I didn't like it as much. I've been spoiled by using Office for almost the past 20 years. If I really couldn't afford the real thing I would of course use Open Office (I did for a year or so). It's close to MS-Office, but not quite the same. I've heard from others that it can't do some things that MS-Office does, but I did not find that to be the case in my limited use of it.

The only thing that makes wireless harder is that you have to set up security, first on the router and then on each client that is going to use the wireless signal. It's not that hard to do, but it IS more work that doing nothing, which is what wired is.

You have to log on to a router to set it up anyway, either wired or wireless. With wireless you'll just have an extra step of configuring the wireless and the wireless security, it's not a big deal for me, but if you haven't had any experience with routers, well, it's an extra thing you'll have to follow along in the manual.

So the first thing you need to do is:
1) Decide on wired vs. wireless
2) Get a router
3) Get a switch if you're going wired

Most routers have only four Ethernet ports on the back, which limits your wired connections to four. If you go wired and you need to connect more than four devices, then you'll need a network switch to provide those. Network switches are just dumb OSI layer 2 devices, they essentially make a local area network (LAN). They do not do any routing. Routing is a function of layer 3, the Internet. That's the layer that is aware of other networks and how to get to them. Routers are what comprise the Internet, they hold routing tables in memory and route packets between other routers until the packets get to their destinations. You need one router in your building, and when you get Internet, it is the device that will connect you. Think of a switch as a dumb device that connects devices on a network. It does not hand out IP addresses, it is totally passive.

I doubt you need a server in your lab. If you need to share files each workstation can share folders, files, and printers. You can even designate one PC (the teacher's?) as sort of a server, to share out some folders and maybe a classroom printer. Or better yet, get a printer that connects directly to the network (wired or wireless), that cuts out the need for a PC to be on and "serving" access to the printer.

Hope this helps.
 
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rodrig

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Feb 14, 2014
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I decided on wireless and purchased Netgear N750 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router.

I purchased one copy of Office 2013 for the "teachers" laptop that will also have the NEC projector software on it.

I installed Open Office 4.01 on the other 9 laptops.

Going to set up the router tonight at my house to get more stuff ready to bring to the school.

Any recommendations for cleaning the drive each day as well as inexpensive storage solutions? There will be a total of 50 students sharing the 9-10 laptops.

Any other software recommendations to manage a small lab to keep everything working and clean?

Thank you for your replies.
 

mbreslin1954

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You might consider Office 365. According to PC Week Magazine, "An Office 365 subscription includes licensing for the full Office 2013 Pro suite on up to five devices at a cost that works out to be cheaper than buying the single Office 2013 license in many cases." A couple of subscriptions to Office 365 and you could have covered all 10 laptops.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2030120/microsoft-caves-to-office-2013-licensing-backlash.html

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/install-office-on-more-than-one-computer-HA102901468.aspx

The best "cleaner" is ccleaner.exe (used to stand for "crap cleaner"), but that just cleans temporary and other junk files, and additionally cleans up the Windows Registry.

http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download

Unfortunately Windows 7 (and 8) does not have the capability that Windows XP had, of resetting the computer back to its original state when a user logged off. The only way to do that with Windows 7 is with a third-party program, such as Clean Slate (they offer educational discounts):

http://www.fortresgrand.com/products/cls/cls.htm

I've used Clean Slate at a customer site. What it does is prevent users from permanently making changes to the PC, either in Windows configuration or even files stored. If a user changes Windows in any way, even the background wallpaper, or stores any files on the desktop, when they logoff all such changes to Windows or the file system are wiped out and the machine is returned to the state it was before they logged on. This may be overkill for what you want, as students would be unable to store files on the laptops.

If you don't want to go the Clean Slate route, just make sure each student has a non-administrative UserID, so they can't mess with Windows (e.g., install software, install printers, change Windows' configuration, etc.). Then every day or two run ccleaner on the PCs to keep them clean. Not much more you can do than that.

Also, set up each PC's connection to the wireless router, so you don't have to give the security passphrase to any of the students.
 

mbreslin1954

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Since you don't yet have an Internet connection for your lab, the biggest threat to your PCs is off the table, malicious software from web sites or downloaded files. However, malware can still be brought into the laptops from the kids via USB flash drives (or thumb drives). If you want, I've found one of the best free anti-virus packages to be Avast. But without an Internet connection it will be difficult to install it, and you won't be able to update it.
 

rodrig

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Feb 14, 2014
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The laptops have Windows Security Essentials (Anti-Virus) on them. How does that compare to Avant?

Don't want to go Clean Slate route but did not give students non-admin user id. I will download crap cleaner. When I setup the laptops, I named each Student 1, ... etc. and gave admin / no password. Is that easy to change to non-admin? Install crap cleaner on all? Have the lab tech run every day or two? I was thinking about creating a document for non techie to keep the lab running smoothly. Any other must-dos?

How do you set up each PC's connection to the wireless router, so you don't have to give the security passphrase to any of the students? I was going to give them the password so glad you mentioned this!

I didn't think about how students would store things they worked on in the lab so was thinking about adding 60 flash drives to the budget since going wireless freed up some monies. What do you think about that? Will I run into more problems with viruses?

Lastly, wouldn't Office 365 subscription require Internet or am I not understanding how that license work?

Thank you again for your helpful replies!

 

choucove

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May 13, 2011
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Without internet your biggest threat is intentional or accidental tampering with the computer system, software, and operating system. There are still viruses and malware that can circulate without needing direct internet access, so you will want to keep at minimum Microsoft Security Essentials, CCleaner, and Malwarebytes installed on all of your computers (all of which are free.) However, this isn't going to protect your computer system from a child going in and installing whatever he or she wants, or keep them from causing irreparable damage to system settings, files, or data. You need several things to make that all work correctly.

First, you should be looking at permission and user access control. Without a domain controller to leverage the power of group policy management, you are doing to having to manage user account control on each computer individually. You have to create each user account on each computer, set up all the software and settings on each computer. You can go simple and create a "Student" user that is a limited guest user, but that still doesn't protect your system fully. In the Professional edition of Windows 7 and 8 you have the ability to manage group policy in more detail on the individual computers just as if it was its own domain controller and block things like having the "Student" user account being able to install or remove programs or even have access to the Control Panel at all. You can disable them being able to change the desktop, modify system settings, etc. But again this has to be done individually on each computer since you don't have a domain controller which can automatically manage that user account access and permission across all of your connected computers.

Additionally you need to look into a software solution that will create a non-persistent state on your student computers. What this means is software takes a snapshot of your computer system exactly how it should be in a clean set up situation. While a student is on that computer they could do something crazy like install a virus or change the desktop, modify or delete applications, and really it wouldn't matter. You reboot the computer and all of those changes are wiped away, the computer simply loads back up into that original clean state. However, solutions like this (that I know of anyways) aren't free. There are some options out there like Deep Freeze and SmartShield that work well for this, but there is a cost to license the functionality of it. We use SmartShield at the local public library for this exact purpose and it has been wonderful, well worth the investment not to have to fix every little change that every single user makes when they are on the computer.
 

rodrig

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I saw Deep Freeze in my reading. Would the Free version work for this or do you suggest buying something?

Can you recommend a step by step tutorial with screenshots to do what you suggest above so I do not mess up the laptops?

Thank you!
 

choucove

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That I can find, Deep Freeze doesn't have a free version. They have a 30-day free trial, but not an actual free version.

Unfortunately I don't know that I can find you any step-by-step guides for working with the group policy directly within each computer because GPOs are all unique to the environment that you are using and what you want to do. There are literally thousands of options of things to configure depending upon what you want, so doing a direct guide isn't really feasible. You can access the local group policy management for each computer by clicking on the start button and in the search options type "gpedit.msc" and press return. Here's the thing, doing things this way I don't know how to apply it to only individual user accounts. Your computer without a domain controller is not really meant to be managed this way so modifying the group policy directly on the computer may affect all users making it so even you could lose access to changing settings, etc. There are probably ways around this but I personally don't know them. In an environment like this, having a domain controller (which can also be used for your centralized storage server) is worth its weight in gold almost compared to the time and frustration that can come from trying to manage all of this individually without that domain controller.
 

mbreslin1954

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Using gpedit.msc, you can modify group policy objects for either the computer as a whole, or just non-administrative users. The application is broken down into "Computer Configuration" and "User Configuration". If you set policies at the User Configuration level, for instance, prohibiting the allowing of "third-party browser extensions", then all non-administrative users will be prohibited from allowing third-party browser extensions from being installed on Internet Explorer. Or you could prohibit the use of the "Run" command. There are hundreds of these. If you disable such things in "Computer Configuration", they will apply to all users on the computer, not just non-administrative users.

In order to set up the wireless networking on the laptops, you will need to log onto each laptop (with an administrator account) and connect to the wireless router and provide the security passphrase. Once it has connected then it should remember the details even if a non-administrative (student) account is used to log on.




 

mbreslin1954

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As choucove pointed out, the benefit to having a Microsoft Server running on the network is that it acts as a Microsoft Domain Controller, which provides a central, or global, accounts database. What this means is that when users log on to the domain from their client PCs, they can log on to the "network", which is the server. The client PC (the laptop) sends the account information (userid & password) to the server, which then authenticates the user from its domain accounts database. The benefit of this is that you only have to define users and passwords on the server, then any user can log onto any laptop with their userid and password, because they be authenticated by the central server. Otherwise, without the domain controller server, you have to create/define each userid on each computer than you want him to be able to log onto, and then set his password on each computer. If he changes his password on one computer, the other computers will still have his old password. It can be a nightmare to manage.

Of course, as choucove mentioned, in addition you get the benefit of being able to define group policies once, on the server, and they will be applied to each user whenever they log on to any PC in the domain. You won't have to create and maintain group policies on each laptop PC.

But of course all this goodness comes with a price: A Microsoft server PC. The good news is that you can get an academic or non-profit license, but it will still cost something, not to mention the extra server PC itself.