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Killester College
Europe’s first SYSTIMAX AirSPEED installation gives students
and staff at Killester College in Dublin easy, cost effective access
to learning resources.
In September 2000 Killester College of Further Education in north
east Dublin, Ireland, had just over 300 day and evening course students.
By early 2005, that number has grown to over 1,700. Over this time,
the college also adopted new technologies, including Europe’s
first SYSTIMAX AirSPEED wireless LAN installation, to implement
inclusive learning techniques blended to students’ needs.
The college provides full and part-time courses on subjects ranging
from drama to data networking. Many of these are now supported by
e-learning courseware developed by the college and held on servers
in its Learning Resource Centre Most of this learning material is
accessible via the Internet, so students can continue learning at
home or wherever they can use a PC with a Web connection.
To make learning material easily available throughout its building, Killester College needed a LAN to serve both teaching staff and students. At first, the College management considered a hardwired network with a pair of outlets in each of its 34 classrooms. College Principal, Rory O’Sullivan, soon recognised that this arrangement was inflexible and would limit access to computer-based learning resources.
“The college has evolved quickly to meet changing educational needs and priorities – and it must be ready to meet new challenges in the future,” he said. “This made the idea of a wireless network very attractive. It could connect PCs to our Resource Centre from anywhere in the building and support growing use of computers without costly extensions to the network. The implementation of this technology was made possible by a grant from the Irish Government’s eInclusion Fund.”
Having decided that a wireless LAN was best, the College put its requirement out to tender. The winning bid came from the Kedington Group, a SYSTIMX Business Partner with offices in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. Kedington’s proposal was based on the new SYSTIMAX AirSPEED Solution, which meets the latest IEEE 802.11a standard which is important for advanced applications such as Voice over Wi-Fi and wireless multi-media. Compatibility with these standards was the important feature for the Killester College application.
The Solution’s dual-band, tri-mode capability gives the College flexibility in the types of PC LAN cards that can be used to connect with its network. Laptops, desktop computers, and other wireless devices that are equipped with 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g wireless cards are all supported by the new wireless infrastructure at the school.
Of great importance to the College, the SYSTIMAX AirSPEED Solution supports a range of advanced security protocols including Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and the newly ratified 802.11i standard, offering AES, the latest in encryption technology. To limit network access to authorised users, the College has implemented WPA security which includes IEEE 802.1x user authentication and dynamic, per-user, per-session rotating keys.
The network’s main distribution frame and power units from the SYSTIMAX AirSPEED access points were installed in the Learning Resources Centre alongside the Colleges’ central servers. This distribution frame is linked to a satellite frame installed, together with more power units, in a closet at the other end of the College. From here, access points more than 100 meters away from the Resource Centre are connected to the network. To make the backbone connection between the two distribution frames, Kedington used SYSTIMAX GigaSPEED XL cabling, which has performance well above Category 6 specifications.
The network, completed in January 2005, now supports applications including web-based training programs, internet gateways and administrative systems. It also connects four computer labs and a server running the College’s innovative virtual learning environment, “Blackboard”. This provided an online environment to complement and supplement the traditional classroom, and blending learning programs.
Leveraging the wired network infrastructure through the use of Power over Ethernet (PoE) was a big attraction of the SYSTIMAX AirSPEED Solution, which means its access points do not need separate electrical connections. Power is supplied via the data cable, cutting the cost and complexity of the College’s new network. This feature also helped Kedington complete the project to tight time scales and reduce the disruption caused by installation new electrical cabling.
“We make intensive use of our facilities and resources at Killester College to create a positive learning environment for our students where the learning is provided at a time, in a place and in a manner that best meets the needs of our students,” said Rory O’Sullivan. “The SYSTIMAX AirSPEED Solution is well suited to this ‘blended learning’ approach and Kedington responded well to the challenge of getting it up and running without disrupting our classes.”
Commenting on this, Wally Blennerhasset, Sales Director at SYSTIMAX Solutions in Ireland, said ‘The SYSTIMAX AirSPEED Solution has the combination of cost effectiveness and performance needed to support imaginative new educational approaches – such as those at Killester College. It allows them freedom to deliver computer-based learning resources wherever they are needed, and gives the maximum number of students and staff access to those resources.”