NETGEAR technology provides students with seamless wireless connectivity
Background
South Molton Community College (SMCC) is a secondary school in South Molton, Devon. The highly regarded modern school is home to approximately 50 teaching staff and 600 pupils aged between 11-16 years. Having recently been awarded special school status as a Technology College and recognised as ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted, SMCC sees every pupil as an individual with potential.
Problem/Objective
To maintain its position as an exceptional school and provide the best facilities for its pupils, SMCC needed to implement reliable wireless connectivity across its site.
Without a wireless infrastructure, the teaching staff relied on four ICT suites containing just 100 PCs to provide the 600-strong pupil population with satisfactory IT-based learning capabilities. As 75 percent of the PCs were dedicated solely to ICT lessons, pupils had limited access to the machines throughout the rest of the school day. As a result, pupils were unable to utilise the computers and improve their IT expertise in core lessons such as Science, Maths and English classes.
SMCC first installed wireless networking equipment approximately eight years ago when the technology was in its infancy. The consistency of connection was disappointing, and had caused teaching staff to abandon its usage at that time. Following astounding improvements in technology and wireless standards, SMCC made the decision to go wireless once again to ensure it delivered the best facilities to its pupils.
Having experienced issues with other technology vendors in the past, it was hugely important that the networking equipment selected for this venture was reliable and would provide a consistently impressive performance.
"Since implementation, this part of the school has experienced seamless wireless connectivity"
Solution
NETGEAR was selected on the basis of its high-performance products and value for money.
SMCC initially installed the NETGEAR WFS709TP ProSafe® Smart Wireless Controller along with 10 WG102 ProSafe Light Wireless Access Points and 2 WAG102 Dual-Band Wireless Access Points, which were deployed across one wing of the school.
Since implementation, this part of the school has experienced seamless wireless connectivity. Pupils are no longer restricted to the ICT suite and can now work wirelessly from classrooms. SMCC invested in 65 mini laptops, which have been equally distributed across the school’s departments. Laptop trolleys can now be simply wheeled into the classroom, where pupils can boot up the machines, browse the Internet and access work from the school’s server.
SMCC noticed an indisputable improvement following the implementation of NETGEAR technology. It has provided pupils with instant access to a wealth of information sources and the potential to develop ICT skills, therefore providing them with the rounded education the school is committed to providing.
The WFS709TP ProSafe Smart Wireless Controller was of notable benefit to the school’s environment due to its bandwidth utilisation technology. The ability to intelligently designate a set number of pupils to work from specific access points, whilst achieving the same bandwidth, meant that pupils experienced no disruption or inconsistent connection when working wirelessly. Pupils and teaching staff subsequently faced less downtime during lessons, ensuring classes were both enjoyable and productive for all.
Following the positive impact of this technology, SMCC now plans to implement further wireless technologies to cover the entire school site. A further WFS709TP ProSafe Smart Wireless Controller and 25 WGL102 ProSafe Light Wireless Access Points will be installed during the summer holidays, ready for pupils’ return in September.
"Following the positive impact of this technology, SMCC now plans to implement further wireless technology to cover the entire school site"
|
