Networking for Daycares and Preschools

Daycares and preschools are often treated like small offices when the network goes in: one router, one password, done. The needs are genuinely different, because of two things an office doesn't have: cameras watched from outside, and data about children.

Cameras parents watch

The heaviest requirement here, and the most often miscalculated. Ordinary security cameras record inward, so they don't use the internet link at all. Cameras parents watch from home use it constantly, and what they use is the upload path, which on almost every consumer plan is far smaller than download. Why, in why upload is slower than download.

How to size it: one viewer at watchable quality uses about 1.5 to 2 Mbps. Multiply by the number of parents watching simultaneously, not the number of cameras. Five viewers is already 10 Mbps of upload, and on a plan with 10 Mbps up, that's the entire path.

What helps:

• Lower the stream resolution for outside viewers while keeping local recording at full quality. Most cameras can send two different streams at once.
• Choose a plan with generous upload, where available. This is the one small-business case where the upload figure matters more than download (choosing a business plan).
• Limit viewing hours if you must, and say so up front so it doesn't become a complaint.
• Cable the cameras. Wi-Fi cameras streaming constantly are a permanent load on the wireless network, and that degrades everything else (PoE for cameras simplifies the install).

Who's allowed to watch

The most important part, and the one most often handled badly: one shared account whose password is given to every parent. The problem appears when a child leaves, because that password still works and a former parent can still watch.

• One account per family, not one shared account. If the camera system can't do that, it's a valid reason to replace it.
• Record and perform access revocation when a child leaves. Make it part of the exit process, not something remembered if there's time.
• Never expose cameras via port forwarding. It makes them reachable from the whole internet, and cameras are what automated scanners find most often. Use the manufacturer's own service or a VPN. Risks in port forwarding and CCTV camera security.
• Change camera default passwords before installation, without exception.

Children's data

A daycare holds data more sensitive than most businesses: children's names and ages, home addresses, health and allergy history, emergency contacts, and who is authorised to collect them. Video recordings are personal data too.

The baseline obligations match other businesses and are covered in personal data security and the PDP law and rules on collecting customer data. Three things are specific here:

• Photo and video consent is separate from enrolment consent. A parent agreeing to enrolment hasn't necessarily agreed to their child's photo being shared.
• Photos containing other children are their own problem. One parent's consent doesn't cover another's child, and group activity photos nearly always contain several children.
• Retention periods for recordings are set and enforced. Footage kept indefinitely adds risk without adding benefit. Considerations in CCTV rules and privacy.

Three networks, not one

This one simplification makes everything above far easier to hold together:

• Staff network: admin computer, recording storage, printer.
• Device network: cameras and smart devices, able to reach nothing but their own destination.
• Guest network: waiting parents' phones, and children's learning tablets.

Steps in separating a guest network, and if the router supports it, VLANs make the separation cleaner.

Tablets and learning devices

If children use tablets, router-level filtering alone is insufficient and mustn't be relied on. A router filters by site address and sees nothing inside an app. What works is a combination: restrictions on the device itself, pre-selected apps, and adult supervision. Discussed in parental controls on the router, including their limits.

When the internet goes down

One thing worth preparing and usually forgotten: parents used to checking the cameras will worry when the stream stops, and they will phone. Two simple preparations:

• Recording continues locally even with no internet, so nothing is lost. Confirm the camera system actually works that way rather than assuming it.
• A small UPS for the router and recorder, so brief outages interrupt nothing (a UPS for your router).

For larger centres, a backup connection is worth considering, for the same reasons as in backup internet for businesses.

Frequently asked questions