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IT teams looking after schools and colleges face mounting pressures as education becomes more digital. Network infrastructure forms the backbone of digital learning, administrative efficiency and overall campus operations. A robust network infrastructure is vital for seamless connectivity in schools and colleges, and helps to future-proof any educational environment.
Network infrastructure for schools and colleges
For many years, the government has encouraged educational establishments to assess their need for high-quality ICT infrastructure. This network infrastructure includes:
- Physical cabling and data connections that form part of the building fabric, typically using copper cabling with fibre-optic links between buildings.
- Switches that move data from one place to another and make sure it routes correctly.
- Wireless equipment – wireless access points (WAPs) provide the wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi) required in various locations inside or outside a building.
- Equipment to connect to the internet and to other schools, including routers and systems for security and filtering.
- Management systems to control and coordinate the systems in a cohesive, secure and effective way.
As the government guidance acknowledges: “Poor infrastructure will have a negative impact on lessons and staff. Investment in infrastructure requires a sound strategy that looks several years ahead.”
The benefits for schools and colleges
It’s clear that schools should regularly assess their current network infrastructure and consider what changes could be made. The benefits of a high-quality network infrastructure designed specifically for your school or college include:
Enhanced learning: High-quality infrastructure provides access to a vast array of online resources, interactive learning platforms and virtual collaboration tools, enriching the educational experience.
Improved communications: purpose-built network communications facilitate clear and effective communication among students, teachers and administrators through video calls, online forums, and collaborative platforms.
Staff efficiency: A reliable and seamless network infrastructure will save teacher time – arguably the most valuable commodity in education. A robust network infrastructure and network communications support teaching and learning, for example allowing students and staff to log on to their devices, collaborate and use online tools quickly and reliably.
Operational efficiency: advanced networks can provide connections to actionable intelligence to help manage school estates smartly. Data to support complex decision-making and resource allocation is crucial at a time of environmental awareness and tight budgets.
Future-proofing: investing in robust infrastructure prepares schools to integrate new technologies and methodologies. Digital technology and the networks that support modern IT infrastructure at schools and colleges have evolved. Analytics is emerging as the next phase in network advancement as administrators and IT departments seek to bolster network coverage, capacity, scale and manageability.
Remote learning support: a strong network infrastructure is essential for supporting the increasing need for remote learning capabilities.
Security: It will remain critical to maintain secure network communications, both for safeguarding and to ensure that remote access is properly controlled.
Economy: a planned programme of design, investment and support in network infrastructure can reduce long-term costs by minimising the need for frequent replacements and technical support.
Expert educational network infrastructure installation
If you are a school or college looking for solution that will support a large number of users across one or more sites, provide connectivity, enable innovation and support campus safety, Express Data can help.
We understand the need for educational facilities to stay up and running efficiently during term time. We know that students will want to embrace new technology and expect a fast and seamless online experience. We work with schools and colleges to assess their current network infrastructure and plan for the future. Our expert engineers install the network infrastructure, check that everything is functioning optimally and complete the job within your allocated time frame.
Boarding and day school, York
We were approached by one of the world’s oldest schools to help them to facilitate e-learning opportunities by allowing all staff and pupils to access the internet and student services from everywhere on the school’s campus. We installed an enterprise wireless solution and restructured the existing wireless platform to accommodate it, allowing us to complete the wireless upgrade within a week.
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- Rapid installation – inside a week – in a challenging distributed environment
- Future-proofed, high-quality upgraded wireless network to enable e-learning
- Personal service combined with technical excellence for a happy customer.
Leeds City College
We installed a complex LAN/WAN solution for Europe’s largest college, including ultra-high bandwidth to cope with large files and multimedia devices, remote connectivity, content control, firewalling and DNS. This allowed the college to provide shared services access to all three of their campuses.
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- 14,000 port network, one of Europe’s largest campus network rollouts
- Reliable, robust and scalable set-up, combining 3x colleges into one logical network
- Shared IT services, with our helpdesk support, across mixed vendor environment.
Expert network infrastructure installation for schools and colleges
Our team at Express Data has the experience and expertise to give you the best advice on the right network infrastructure for your school or college. The value of a robust network infrastructure extends well beyond simply providing a more reliable Wi-Fi service. Better networks are a key investment for the future, providing a better user experience, and offering the opportunity to benefit from actionable intelligence to manage your institution smartly.
Contact us now to find out more about how we can help your school or college.