Our project was a collaboration with the Healthy Communities Initiative and the Northfield Public Schools. Currently HCI is providing some sort of internet support to roughly 400 students in the Northfield district and is expanding support to families in the Faribault Public School District as well.
HCI is a local organization that provides support to programs that serve youth in the community. They've partnered with the Northfield Public Schools to assist in hotspot distribution and internet support.
Northfield
Public Schools serve around 4000 students
throughout Rice County and a handful of
families in Dakota County.
Expanding broadband has been a nationally discussed initiative since the early 2000's. Over the last few years, lawmakers and communities have specifically pressed to expand rural broadband access, making the argument that like electricity, internet has become a utility. Internet falls under the umbrella of the Federal Commission on Communication (FCC) and the Biden Admnistration has already started working towards rolling out funding and infrastructure.
Minnesota as a state poses some logistical challenges, given the mix of rural areas and urban centers. There are also state legislative restrictions in place regarding the development of new and/or municipal internet projects. At the same time, there are also a number of efforts state-wide to increase broadband access, especially in rural areas.
The national Internet Service Providers (ISP's) with coverage in Northfield include Charter-Spectrum, CenturyLink and T-Mobile. In addition, Northfield Wifi, a local ISP has been expanding their coverage over the last few years.
Available using actual hotspot devices or our phones, this wireless technology that allows us to have internet access mobily. As long as the device is in a coverage zone to an ISP tower, it is connected. Speeds range up to around 15 Mbps but are slowly getting better with advances in wireless tech such as 5G.
One of the older types of broadband, DSL provides internet access by using the already existing telephone lines installed to homes and businesses. The availability and speed of DSl depends on the distance from a home to the nearest telephone company facility. Speeds range from several hundred Kbps to 100 Mbps.
Lets users access the internet from a fixed point by installing a reciever antenna. It is critical that the antenna has a "direct line of sight" meaning a clear path from the antenna to the wifi tower without trees or building obstructing the airspace. Speeds range from roughly 25 Mbps to 50 Mbps but may also be inconsistent due weather such as fog, rain, or snow.
Fiber and cable are the fastest and most reliable types of broadband due to them both being physical connections that require a cable to be installed from the ISP to the users home. Cable broadband makes use of the same coaxial cables used for cable tv with speeds from roughly 50 Mbps to 1000 Mbps. Fiber uses fiber optic cables have the fastest speeds that are roughly 1000 Mbps and higher.