Wireless Networking in Schools
London School Deploys 802.11n WiFi
Oakington Manor Primary School (OMPS), located in the borough of Brent in London, England, U.K., has deployed 802.11n WiFi throughout the school. OMPS said it needed WiFi coverage that would ensure high speeds and adequate capacity for its 700-plus students working within an infrastructure that includes a radio station, a video conferencing system, an ICT suite, and a library featuring 3D devices. The school signed on with Xirrus for the deployment.
"Within three classrooms [we] have something like 90 children wanting to log on wirelessly at the same time, and that was the really big technical issue," explained Andrew Newton, network manager for OMPS. "We discovered that other systems simply don't handle that many. We needed something much more robust and was guaranteed to work."
"We went down the WiFi route," said OMPS advanced skills teacher Ophelia Vanderpuye, "mainly because of the fact that we were going to introduce netbooks into the classrooms and address the 'every child matters agenda,' which actually would give children access to computers both at home and at school. In addition, we also have the teacher laptops ... [so] wherever the teachers are they can work and they can access the Internet."
Organizations interested in a Xirrus WiFi site survey of their facilities can register here.
Scott Aronowitz is a freelance writer based in Las Vegas. He has covered the technology, advertising, and entertainment sectors for seven years. He can be reached here.