NETGEAR technology provides students with seamless wireless connectivity
Background
Withernsea High School is a co-educational comprehensive school in Withernsea, a small resort town on the coast of East Yorkshire. Specialising in humanities, the school is home to over 1,000 pupils aged between 11 and 16 and boasts a sixth form college of 16 to 18 year olds. The School is one of the town’s largest employers and plays an integral part in maintaining the local economy.
Problem/Objective
To maintain its position as a leading humanities College, Withernsea High School needed to implement the right solution to provide full network coverage across its site. Cisco switches formed the School’s existing wired infrastructure, with HP stand-alone access points providing wireless access. While this solution provided the institution with wireless coverage across some areas, there were a number of rooms in which the network could not be accessed. Difficulties with user authentication further complicated this process.
This was particularly problematic for the School’s teaching staff. Teachers needed to move between classrooms with zero network downtime to ensure lessons weren’t disrupted and cut short due to technical problems. Furthermore, the School had intended for teaching staff to access the wireless network via laptops throughout the building to communicate admin documentation to the secretary’s office. However wireless signal was often lost as teachers moved between rooms, making neither of these possible. As a result, the IT support team spent several hours per week reconnecting laptops to the network.
Withernsea High School concluded that a more complete solution which functioned alongside the existing Cisco technology would ensure teachers would have the required access to the network.
"Since implementation, this part of the school has experienced seamless wireless connectivity"
Solution
Having assessed the various networking equipment vendors, Withernsea High School arranged for a NETGEAR representative to visit the site to conduct a free site survey. Once the survey was complete, the School opted for complete site-wide wireless coverage using NETGEAR technology. The company was chosen due to its affordable solutions and the professionalism of the installation team.
Withernsea High School initially installed two NETGEAR WFS709TP ProSafe® Smart Wireless Controllers, which were located in the technology department. Given the School’s focus on the use of efficient and effective technology, this was essential to provide the organisation with sufficient wireless access. Several NETGEAR FS726TP ProSafe 24 Port 10/100 Smart Switches with 2 Gigabit Ports and 12 Port PoE were also deployed around the School’s campus. The switches deliver power and data access to NETGEAR WAGL102 ProSafe Dual Band Light Wireless Access Points that had been strategically placed around the building. This ensured wireless coverage was maximised, while the wireless infrastructure could be easily managed.
Following some initial concerns around the compatibility of NETGEAR devices and existing Cisco/HP solution, NETGEAR proved its solutions are entirely interoperable. It functions alongside the old network infrastructure to provide optimum wireless access in all the required areas of the building.
Result
The School’s teaching staff now has constant access to the wireless network, irrespective of which area of the building they are working in. The time needed to connect laptops to the internet has been reduced considerably; ensuring lessons can be entirely dedicated to educating the School’s pupils. It has also reduced the need for IT technicians to spend time troubleshooting networking issues; and the new technology has enabled them to add and authenticate users automatically.
Withernsea High School’s new wireless networking solution complements two existing NETGEAR RNDP6610 ReadyNAS® Pro Business Edition Desktop Storage devices. Used purely by IT technicians, one device is used to store CCTV video while the second is dedicated to data backup. The new wireless infrastructure provides constant access to these devices, from any location. This provides a complete and comprehensive solution; necessary to ensure the smooth running and management of the School’s network.
“The company was chosen due to its affordable solutions and the professionalism of the installation team.”
“The School’s teaching staff now has constant access to the wireless network, irrespective of which area of the building they are working in.”
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