GREAT TORRINGTON SCHOOL DEPLOYS MERU EDUCATION GRADE 802.11AC WI-FI TO SUPPORT IPAD-ENABLED LEARNING

Meru Networks, a leader in intelligent Wi-Fi networking, has announced that Great Torrington School in Devon has deployed an 802.11ac Meru Education Grade (MEG™) wireless solution to transform the way the academy-status school educates its 750 students. The school uses Apple iPads extensively, with Meru Connect for secure guest onboarding and Meru support for Apple Bonjour to enable use of Apple TV across subnets.

“Our existing six-year-old network was delivering snail-like speeds,” explained Jon Buss, network manager at Great Torrington School. “It was taking up to 15 minutes to log on to a laptop and authenticate it. Now it’s instantaneous. Previously, it could take up to 20 minutes before you could start streaming a video clip. Also, pupils and staff can now move seamlessly from classroom to classroom without losing the connection and having to log on again and again.”

With its philosophy of “Dream. Believe. Achieve,” and desire to create an inclusive community of innovative students and educators, Great Torrington School replaced its legacy wireless with an 802.11ac network. The goal of the deployment was to deliver faster speeds for school-owned and BYOD devices and to ensure seamless roaming across the entire school campus.

Designed and deployed by Meru Platinum Partner RM Education, an ICT specialist for the education sector, the wireless network includes Meru AP832i 802.11ac access points located throughout the school.

Providing secure guest access using Meru Connect software is critical for enabling outside lecturers, other schools’ teachers, temporary instructors and parents to access school resources online. Meru Connect automates secure network access for school-owned and guest devices, reducing the burden on IT staff. The software is optimised for both administrators and end users, enabling one-click self-provisioning of client devices for secure wireless connectivity.

The school, which plans to deploy a 1:1 learning environment in the future, is using Apple TV to stream video to wireless projectors. Meru support for the Apple Bonjour protocol enables teachers and students to stream video through Apple TV, even across multiple subnets.

Meru’s Education-grade (MEG) wireless solution is designed to solve educational institutions’ 1:1 computing and BYOD (Bring your own device) issues and support their learning-essential applications. MEG starts with three simple steps:

1. On-board quickly with 1:1 and BYOD provisioning and secure wireless access mapped to IT policies.
2. Connect all 1:1 and BYOD devices reliably anywhere on campus.
3. Learn by deploying validated learning and teaching applications on 1:1 and BYOD devices over the MEG wireless solution.

“Great Torrington is a perfect example of a school that wants staff, students and parents to work in harmony to deliver the very best results using the very best technology,” said Mark Howell, country manager for UK and Ireland at Meru. “The 802.11ac Wi-Fi is delivering exceptional speeds even on older devices, increasing efficiencies in the classroom for both pupils and teachers and allowing them to focus on teaching and learning.”