NETGEAR’s technology dramatically boosted the performance of the school’s IT system, providing students with fast and reliable wireless Internet access.
Profile
The Edward Sheerien School is a mixed secondary school based in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. This comprehensive community school has 798 students between the ages of 11-16 and a total of 918 students and faculty overall.
Background
As the number of PCs in use has increased over the years, Edward Sheerien School's IT infrastructure has evolved to become a mixture of hubs and switches. Whilst this provided a minimal level of connectivity to the classrooms and offices around the campus, the network in no way met the school’s expectations.
Problem/Objective
With a growing number of tech-savvy students, Edward Sheerien School needed to upgrade its IT infrastructure. The school identified that providing students with quicker and more reliable network and Internet access would enhance their educational experience.
Staff and students were becoming increasingly frustrated with the existing wireless access points, which had to be frequently reset. The capacity of the existing 10/100 hubs and switches was also constraining productivity.
Problem/Objective (continued)
Richard Eastwood, Network Manager at Edward Sheerien School stated, "I knew a dramatic change was needed in the whole IT system. I wanted to upgrade the IT backbone with gigabit connectivity and also increase the wireless coverage to give students and staff more flexibility when logging on to the network."
Solution
After contacting Misco for advice on the various networking equipment vendors, Mr. Eastwood decided to purchase NETGEAR® on the basis of its reputation for high-performance products and value for money.
Edward Sheerien School installed NETGEAR’s ProSafe™ GS724T Smart Switches, the ProSafe™ GSM7224 Managed Switch, RangeMax™ WPN802 Access Points, and RangeMax™ WPN511 Wireless Adapter Cards.
The GS724T 24-Port Gigabit Smart Switches and the GSM7224 24-Port L2 Managed Switch upgraded the school’s IT backbone with increased bandwidth, high-speed content delivery, and traffic prioritisation. This enabled the large amounts of multimedia and online content to be delivered far more quickly across the network, minimising the download time that was previously the cause of students’ frustration.
Mr. Eastwood remarked, “I chose NETGEAR® because the products offer real value for money and are low maintenance, giving me more time to develop the other IT initiatives I’m working on around the school. The switches were easy to set up, and we saw the increased network speed immediately.”
NETGEAR’s RangeMax™ WPN802 Wireless Access Points were installed throughout Edward Sheerien’s campus, enabling wireless network connections from anywhere around the school. The RangeMax™ line of wireless equipment uses an advanced Smart MIMO (Multi-In, Multi-Out) technology that incorporates seven internal antennas that continuously scan the surrounding area, sensing physical obstacles and electronic interference. The wireless signal automatically adjusts to compensate and maintain a clear connection. With RangeMax™ WPN511 Wireless Laptop Cards, NETGEAR’s Smart Wizard configuration assistant makes it simple for students and staff to log on to the school’s network for email access and online research.
Business Impact/Result
Upgrading from 10/100 to gigabit network connectivity enabled the school to manage the increased broadband usage throughout the campus. The increased capacity and throughput will also enable future network growth.
Mr. Eastwood said, "I didn’t realise there would be so much improvement! I’ve had overwhelming positive feedback from the students on the new IT network at the school. There is a lot of enthusiasm about the new wireless network. Now that documents can be downloaded very quickly, teachers are able to vary their lessons with new online content and demonstrations. Both students and faculty are delighted with the results."
"Reliable access to online resources and new technology is vital to providing today’s generation of students with the best possible education. I often speak to other school network managers about IT projects, and I always recommend NETGEAR® for its high-quality, low-maintenance networking solutions."
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