Created on 18.7.2007
As with many colleges, Weymouth previously had a policy of not letting staff and students connect their own devices onto the network. The reasons for this were the same as their peers, such as threats from unknown sources and bandwidth concerns from peer-to-peer and BitTorrent type applications.
Weymouth College knew that the requirement for Wireless access to the network would bring about a new era and culture within the organisation as well as improving the student experience and ability to achieve.
The connection of foreign, roaming, itinerant and unknown devices also meant that a management platform would be required to support and protect the new users and their laptops.
Weymouth College were looking for a Wireless solution that would not only provide a secure and manageable solution for these new users, but also provide an experience to the user that was easy to follow and had no impact on the IT team when a new user connected for the first time or subsequent times.
Khipu Networks suggested the use of Alcatel-Lucent’s Wireless platform with Bradford Networks’ Campus Manager NAC solution. The integrated solution had been implemented at a number of other institutions prior to Weymouth College so was a no risk ‘tried and tested’ solution.
The Alcatel-Lucent Wireless platform provided a next generation approach to WLAN, with a central master controller and lightweight 'thin' access points, providing a secure and manageable solution. The Wireless Intrusion Prevention and Per User Stateful Firewall modules meant that there was a reduced risk to the college network resources or other users of a malicious or innocent threat on the network.
Bradford Networks’ Campus Manager integrated with the Wireless solution provided a central access method for users to register new devices, be vetted against Weymouth College’s policy for client machines (i.e. Antri-Virus, Anti-Spyware etc), authenticate users and provide self-remediation 'self heal' in the event of not complying to the College's Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) without the support of the IT team.
In particular, Weymouth College chose the Campus Manager solution due to it’s unique approach; a completely out-of-band appliance which is client-less and can be rolled out on a phased basis, meaning that the roll-out is controlled.
Phil Templeton chose the solution for Weymouth College:
“Khipu Networks’ solution had been tried and tested in University environments but we saw that there were some clear synergies with what we wanted to achieve with our new Wireless network. The Campus Manager solution perfectly suits college requirements for students, staff and visitors and we considered it to be the only education focussed solution available. It was an easy choice for us!”
Additionally, Weymouth College wanted a system that would help them with the identity management; making sure they knew who, where and when a user was on the network and with which device.
“Campus Manager enabled the College to see which user had which IP address on the network, which in itself is a powerful tool.”
The Weymouth College Team was able to roll-out the system during term-time due to the unique out-of-band NAC appliance from Bradford Networks. There was no disruption to the network or users and the system was implemented within a week.
“We’re very happy with the system and the way the project was managed. We were guided through whole implementation and the knowledge transfer meant that we have a system that is useful and we would definitely recommend it to any college that’s looking for Wireless or Access Control for their network!”
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About Weymouth College
Weymouth College has over 7,000 students from across Dorset, the South West of England, the rest of the UK as well as overseas. Weymouth College offers a diverse range of courses, excellent facilities and a team of highly dedicated and experienced staff who provide guidance and support as well as high quality teaching. The College is now based on an impressive redeveloped single campus at Cranford Avenue, just a stone's throw from the beach. £13 million has been spent on new buildings to provide purpose-designed facilities for construction, engineering, catering, hairdressing & beauty, and art & design. Other curriculum areas such as media, performing arts have moved into remodelled and refurbished accommodation.
About Khipu Networks Limited
Khipu Networks are a UK based advanced systems integrator, focusing on supplying innovative secure compliant infrastructure solutions across the public and private sector. The company is a leading adopter of new and best in breed technology, expert technical staff ensure that customers get the solutions they need, when they want them and how they need them. The ethos is to ensure that the customer has the edge on the security and compliance of their network and not the attacker. Hampshire based Khipu Networks Ltd are the security division of the White Clarke Group of companies.
Khipu Networks are Alcatel-Lucent Direct Partners and the exclusive reseller of Bradford Campus Manager in the UK and Ireland.
For further information, please contact Khipu:
- T: 01252 773184
- Register Your Interest and one of our consultants will contact you. Click Here
