Wifi Internet filtering in church sanctuary

[Tech in SC]

I have a church that wants to fire some wifi into their sanctuary and filter it as to not allow objectionable content.

Getting the wifi into the sanctuary in itself will be a challenge (considering the budget I'm working with as well as the building is wall after wall of cinder blocks... no drywall in this one.)

I think I have a long range wifi solution using Ayrmesh but I'm open to suggestions.

My main question is what would you recommend for content filtering? It can't be client side filtering since anyone in the church sanctuary can access the Internet with whatever devices they may have.

All comments, recommendations, thoughts are appreciated.

[PCX]

Most content filtering sucks, but a great open source alternative is dansgaurdian. You can set up a cheap low budget server that does nothing more than filter the internet using dansguardian. There are a few other options out there, but I have not messed with this particular stuff in a while.

[MotzTech]

It may not work with a limited budget, but you may want to look into untangle. You can either use a untangle HW device or install your own HW. Here is a link to a calculator you can use to calculate costs. Make sure to select the non-profit option, as that can lower the cost.

http://www.untangle.com/store/configurator/

They also have a lite version that is free, but It probably won't do what they are looking for.

http://www.untangle.com/store/web-filter.html

[YeOldeStonecat]

Another vote for Untangle.
Or...if the church needs a bit more of a server/e-mail system..check out "ClearOS". I'll be doing one of those setups for my old church I grew up going to soon..volunteer / free project.

[MotzTech]

Are you using the free version of ClearOS? I have a ministry in mind that may be able to use something like that.

[YeOldeStonecat]

I'll give the free edition a shot at first.....and see if the basic content filter in the free one will be adequate. Combined with OpenDNS..should suffice quite well "for free".

[glricht]

Originally Posted by Tech in SC

I have a church that wants to fire some wifi into their sanctuary and filter it as to not allow objectionable content.

Getting the wifi into the sanctuary in itself will be a challenge (considering the budget I'm working with as well as the building is wall after wall of cinder blocks... no drywall in this one.)

I think I have a long range wifi solution using Ayrmesh but I'm open to suggestions.

My main question is what would you recommend for content filtering? It can't be client side filtering since anyone in the church sanctuary can access the Internet with whatever devices they may have.

All comments, recommendations, thoughts are appreciated.

WOW! I have a number of churchs as customers and NEVER had one that wanted to provide wifi in the sanctuary for their congregation! They usually have enough trouble getting people to turn off their cell phones so they don't interrupt the service, let alone provide Internet access.

Have had a few that wanted network access for the PC that runs the service (e.g. Mediashout, EasyWorship). The simplest solution appeared to be wifi, but rarely did it work well due to walls and other obstructions. Power Line adapters rarely worked since the sanctuary was usually on a separate electrical box. For most, we literally had to run cable from one building into the other (if I recall, one was a 175 foot run). If you do this and still want wifi, once you're inside the sanctuary, you could attach an access point (or a router with its DNS manually set to OpenDNS).

[PCX]

Originally Posted by glricht

WOW! I have a number of churchs as customers and NEVER had one that wanted to provide wifi in the sanctuary for their congregation! They usually have enough trouble getting people to turn off their cell phones so they don't interrupt the service, let alone provide Internet access.

Have had a few that wanted network access for the PC that runs the service (e.g. Mediashout, EasyWorship). The simplest solution appeared to be wifi, but rarely did it work well due to walls and other obstructions. Power Line adapters rarely worked since the sanctuary was usually on a separate electrical box. For most, we literally had to run cable from one building into the other (if I recall, one was a 175 foot run). If you do this and still want wifi, once you're inside the sanctuary, you could attach an access point (or a router with its DNS manually set to OpenDNS).

Yeah, I agree, its a very poor and unwise decision on their part.

[Rob_NNCC]

Originally Posted by PCX

Yeah, I agree, its a very poor and unwise decision on their part.

I am not sure about that one, one of the largest faiths in America, the LDS church (14.4 Million members) has Wifi in most branch and ward buildings. The wifi is secured by wpa/wpa2, the password is handed out on a need to know basis and the firewall is remotely managed by Salt Lake City.

The LDS church has been called sheltering and for them to put it in means that they have done alot of thought over it.

Source: I am LDS

[PCX]

Originally Posted by Rob_NNCC

I am not sure about that one, one of the largest faiths in America, the LDS church (14.4 members) has Wifi in most branch and ward buildings. The wifi is secured by wpa/wpa2, the password is handed out on a need to know basis and the firewall is remotely managed by Salt Lake City.

The LDS church has been called sheltering and for them to put it in means that they have done alot of thought over it.

Source: I am LDS

As long as its not an openly available hot spot.