The Challenge

A large number of schools are advised by other non-education IT companies to purchase basic wireless access points to use with multiple curriculum laptops and/or tablets. These basic wireless (WiFi) access points are designed for home or small business use and are unable to work together. This provides connectivity and speed issues as they cannot load balance the number of machines trying to access the network.

Common issues reported with this setup include –

• Cannot access the Internet
• Unable to save files or print
• Users unable to log in

In addition to the above list, the issues will occur randomly on different pieces of hardware, making it very frustrating for staff and students.

 The Oakford Way

Oakford only provide wireless networks that consist of professional access points which are always the same make and model. These wireless points are designed to handle large amounts of data and crucially work as a mesh to load balance. This is also controlled centrally via a server or controller. We also configure extra security features so that the wireless network access is granted from a central server via a certificate, rather than a common code. A certificate will provide a key to all trusted machines on the school network and it changes every time it is given out ensuring that unauthorised access to the school’s wireless network is prohibited. This is particularly important considering the sensitivity of the data used within a school.