A Peplink solution specific for the educational campus.

Building Block for Industrial IoT Deployments

January 10, 2018

Published by westnetworksllc at May 12, 2017

A Peplink solution specific for the educational campus.

In 2015 the non-profit EducationSuperHighway calculated the minimum bandwidth speed requirement per student was 100 Kbps. In 2018 it is expected to be 1 Mbps. For more data-heavy platforms like Khan Academy, the recommendation is 1.5 Mbps or more.

According to a recent FCC report, 80 percent of school districts report inadequate broadband connections.

How’s your bandwidth treating you? (If you’re not sure where you land, or what you might need, check out this helpful “Network Essentials for Superintendents”.)

YouTube channels, TED Talks, iTunes University, countless educational apps (and their frequent updates), increasing cloud-based applications, not to mention social media groups for specific classroom projects, and day-to-day communications… They are all fighting for limited bandwidth on ever tightening budgets.

We’ve come a long, long way since the Oregon Trail.

On the one hand, this is an awesome problem to have – what student wouldn’t love being issued an iPad on day one? (I was happy just to have a Trapper Keeper.) On the other hand, it’s still a problem. And like everything else the internet has touched it seems to be a problem that grows so fast we can barely keep up with it. But that doesn’t have to be the case.

Enter Peplink MediaFast routers. Specifically designed with educational institutions in mind, they address the most common bandwidth issues of schools large and small. For example:

On-Board SSD for Content Caching
This clever feature solves a fundamental problem (repetitive, identical downloads) before it becomes an issue. Why have 100 students stream the same hosted video, or download the same app update individually? Tell the MediaFast to pre-fetch the data during off-hours and cut down on peak-bandwidth drain considerably.
Peplink’s Advanced Load Balancing and Bonding
Education today is about being connected, and being agile. Real-time is still the best experience… and a total bandwidth hog. From Skype sessions with guest lecturers, to creating that international experience with another class halfway around the world, a smooth, steady connection is key. With Peplink’s advanced load balancing your video and audio streams will remain smooth and un-interrupted – even if a data connection drops. And for maximum throughput, SpeedFusion allows the bonding of several, low-cost data connections to be merged into a powerful, single stream.
Empowerment for the Admin
As the network admin you’ll have more visibility, easier access, and remote control of the whole show with the cloud-based InControl module and AP Controller. Filter websites, track popular file types, identify the heaviest users and adjust bandwidth priority accordingly, and more – all from a single intuitive interface.

If you’re exploring SD-WAN solutions for your school, or just looking for a way to save dramatically on ISP costs, we recommend giving Peplink MediaFast routers a closer look. For more detailed information, download the overview and spec sheet here, or shoot an email to sales@westnetworks.com. Whether your campus has 50 students or 50,000, elementary education or higher learning, we’ve worked with schools coast-to-coast and can tailor a solution that fits your budget today, while setting things up to scale effortlessly tomorrow.

And if you played the Oregon Trail like I did (more interesting in hunting buffalo than learning valuable life lessons) you owe it to yourself to check out what lessons you might have missed.

Cheers.

Additional Resources for Network Admins in Education

EducationSuperHighway – a non-profit founded in 2014 focused on upgrading internet access in every public school classroom in America. Helpful for making the case of reasonable bandwidth requirements and future-proofing.
Khan Academy – a non-profit with a goal of creating an accessible place for people to be educated. Free for everyone, be sure to check out and share their in-depth curriculum for teachers and parents.
The Oregon Trail – the classic video game that was intended to teach children about the realities of pioneer life. I learned that hunting was fun and that no matter what I did, eventually my wagon axel would break and everyone would die.

Let us know what you think. Send us an email at .

sales@westnetworks.com