As the largest 16-19 education provider in the West Midlands, Sandwell College is a leading provider of technical and vocational training with over 100 courses across key industries. Operating across multiple sites the college also supports Cadbury Sixth Form College and Central Saint Michael’s Sixth Form. The group, which support over 6,000 students, has spent millions of pounds in creating industry-standard learning environments that replicate real working conditions. They rely on strong, reliable internet connections to deliver their high-class teaching. When Sandwell College acquired its Cadburys site it became apparent the network was outdated and would need modernising to work effectively. Running at only 200Mbps the internet access was slow with repeated failures in peak times. Spanning 13km between the two sites there was also a need to find an efficient way to connect the networks and provide one seamless way of communicating across multiple sites.
Case Study
Keeping colleges connected
with network spanning 13 km
With only months until Sandwell College was due to welcome students back for the new term at its Cadburys based site the college faced no internet connection and lengthy delays from their existing supplier. They needed a new solution that would deliver, and quick.
The Challenges
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Demanding deadlines
With students and staff due to return to the classroom faced with no internet connection a quick and reliable solution was needed
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No clear line of sight
Spanning 13 km the distance meant wireless support was more challenging
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High demand network
Connection suffered with intense peak usage
When Sandwell College and Cadbury Sixth Form College decided to merge it became apparent that the teams’ connectivity and college networks were not adequate for supporting the demands of a busy learning and administrative system.
The sixth form had a failing network with a slow 200 Mbps internet link on copper infrastructure. It was massively overwhelmed, resulting in slow access and, at peak times, constant failures in connection making learning difficult.
An upgrade was needed to link the two networks and allow teachers and students to access fast, reliable internet speeds. This would enable key learning and administrative systems to be shared as well as improve communication and save costs by reducing system duplication.
Spanning 13km between the two sites they were initially quoted by another supplier for a replacement 1 Gbps link that was promised for the new term in September. However, the project was plagued with delays due to collapsed ducting and the need to improve fibre infrastructure.
Having waited months for a still incomplete WAN connection to be installed the colleges turned to TrellisWorks to find an alternative solution which would allow the colleges to deliver the secure, fast connectivity students and teachers required.
The solution
Carrying out a full site survey TrellisWorks established that there was no line-of-sight between the two colleges. This meant that due to the distance and lack of range the colleges would need to think outside the box to deliver the solution they were looking for. TrellisWorks identified two third-party tower blocks which could provide access for a repeater that would deliver the connectivity and speeds that they required.
TrellisWorks not only established the connection but worked to negotiate the site share agreement and apply for the Ofcom licence for the wireless link.
The site was connected in time for student registration and delivered a 2 gigabit per second site to site connection between their main campus and the newly incorporated college.
The Successes
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Delivered on time
Provided greater capacity with lower latency in a far quicker deployment time than the original solution
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High speed connection
Despite spanning 13 km the two sites received 2 Gbps speed
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Peak time capacity
Students and staff could get online without losing connection even in peak times
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Built in resilience
Once the WAN connection was finally finished Sandwell College kept the wireless solution for its lower latency and built in resilience
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