The Rock Island-Milan School District #41 has teamed up with Mediacom to provide district students with free access to Wi-Fi hot spots located in public areas throughout the city of Rock Island.
In the summer of 2020, the RIMSD#41’s Information Technology Director installed ROCKfi (Reaching Our Community’s Kids with fidelity) hot spots at every school building and several locations throughout the school district’s boundary area.
Now with the partnership with Mediacom, the RIMSD can reach more students. More than 70 hots spots located in Rock Island have been programmed to allow Wi-Fi access for students enrolled in the Rock Island-Milan School District. “We are grateful for this partnership with Mediacom. This allows us to expand and provide internet for students who might have otherwise not had access to reliable internet,” said Troy Bevans, Information Technology Director for RIMSD#41.
Best of all, it is free and available to all students, with no requirement to have a customer status with Mediacom.
“The driving force behind this unique arrangement has been the School District’s Information Technology Director, Troy Bevans,” said Mediacom’s Regional Vice President Todd Curtis. “Troy knew that Mediacom offers student families with a deeply-discounted home internet service called Connect2Compete. But because he’s innovative and curious, Troy asked our local Mediacom team about open access to the Rock Island portion of our Quad Cities Community Wi-Fi network. We applaud Troy and his colleagues for making the initiative work in sync with the School District’s technology objectives, and as a free resource for the students the district serves.”
Here’s how the open-access works for Rock Island-Milan students.
- When outdoors in public areas (e.g. neighborhood parks, areas around the Augustana College campus), the student uses her/his SmartPhone, laptop, or another device to search for available wireless networks.
- “ROCKfi” will appear as a network choice when in Rock Island areas where Mediacom’s community Wi-Fi network is located.
- After selecting “ROCKfi” – students follow the steps they normally do at school when connecting to the school’s network – they enter their username & the password given to them by the School District.
- ROCKfi is available Monday through Sunday from 6 a.m. – Midnight.
Students can find a map showing the locations of ROCKfi here>>
