Manor Villages

Goal

Students required a stable Wi-Fi connection at their student accommodation to facilitate their studies. The outcome was a reliable and seamless Wi-Fi connection to enhance the student learning experience at Nottingham student accommodation.
Managed Connectivity

AirGen IT were responsible for implementing a solution to improve signal strength and enhance bandwidth across 7 student accommodation sites.
Solution Criteria

To enhance the bandwidth of connectivity overall, while reducing the budget spend on licensing costs.

Implementation Partner

Background – Manor Villages

Manor Villages is one of the largest student accommodation providers in Nottingham with more than 550 rooms across nine sites each serviced by a managed Wi-Fi system. The student accommodation includes living areas and social spaces where students require stable bandwidth and connectivity to facilitate their studies and to support activities undertaken in their spare time.
Student Connectivity Issues

Students at Manor Villages were increasingly reporting connectivity issues during peak times when bandwidth was often put under strain. With hundreds of students simultaneously connecting multiple devices for studying, streaming, gaming, or video calling, it was apparent the existing solution was no longer fit for purpose; causing lags, whilst individuals also became frustrated having to deal with limited or no-signal in various dead-zones.

For many students, university is the first time they are living away from home and their family and Wi-Fi plays a critical role in delivering some familiarity to a period of change. To support increasing flexibility associated with online learning and study, students now require a stable and reliable connection at all hours. This is particularly important for international students, who make up more than 15 percent of students in Nottingham, who may not be able to easily visit home and rely on video calls to stay in touch with family."

Dean Vincent, Director at Manor Village

Challenges

Wi-Fi costs are included as part of the monthly rent at Manor Villages, so the company is responsible for ensuring connections are stable, reliable and secure for students at all times. When Wi-Fi connectivity dropped, support staff would experience a high peak of inbound complaints from students, which in turn required additional support from AirGen IT - its external IT management company.
Identifying the Issue

To improve connectivity overall, AirGen IT was tasked with identifying a suitable new Wi-Fi provider and solution, which was to be installed at seven of Manor Villages’ nine sites. The brief also included the requirement to enhance bandwidth overall, while also reducing the budget spent on licensing costs.

Total Cloud Managed Network

Areas That Need Addressing

Poor Signal Strength

Some students, located further away from access points, found signals to be too weak, or unstable, for consistent connectivity. This was determined to be due to inefficient positioning of access points, which was in turn the leading reason for complaints from students who frequently reported dropped Wi-Fi interrupting studies and social events.
Wi-Fi Configuration

To improve connectivity overall, AirGen IT was tasked with identifying a suitable new Wi-Fi provider and solution, which was to be installed at seven of Manor Villages’ nine sites. The brief also included the requirement to enhance bandwidth overall, while also reducing the budget spent on licensing costs.

Licensing Costs

Manor Villages wanted better value for money from an upgraded Wi-Fi 6 model. The existing product had expensive licensing costs for a Wi-Fi 5 solution that was becoming end-of-life so the decision to review and upgrade was particularly timely.

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Upgrading to Managed Wi-Fi

With managed Wi-Fi 6 models now available on the market, Manor Villages briefed AirGen IT, asking them to identify and install an improved solution that would enhance bandwidth and signal strength but that wouldn’t also incur expensive licensing fees. Having already successfully installed TP-Link’s managed Wi-Fi solutions across more than 15 other sites, Ben White, Director at AirGen IT, was convinced that TP-Link’s Omada range would be the perfect solution.

Our Solution

At the outset of the project, TP-Link provided AirGen IT with a free comprehensive network site survey to ensure coverage and performance were optimised. TP-Link then compiled a bespoke report with actionable insights, which also included recommendations for the infrastructure that would best support a high speed, secure, easy to manage and future-proof wireless network. A free site survey detailing a heat map of the Manor Village student accommodation sites, indicating Wi-Fi hotspots and existing dead-zones, was also created.
Rapid Installation

In line with TP-Link’s recommendations and supported by AirGen IT, 85 access points were installed across seven sites in just seven days. TP-Link’s Omada system is now fully operational, running smoothly and delivering seamless Wi-Fi to all students, regardless of their location on site.

Seamless Wi-Fi

Game Changing Heat Map and Support

The heat map and custom channel mapping provided by TP-Link is a game changer for a project such as this and makes the technology quick to install. It’s also important to note that the level of support we always receive from TP-Link reinforces our reasons for the company having become our go-to tech partner of choice for managed Wi-Fi solutions. We are currently looking at installing more of TP-Link’s Wi-Fi solutions for newly built communal areas.
A Success Story

Dean Vincent, Director at Manor Villages, comments: “Since installation 6 months ago, TP-Link’s Omada range has helped us reduce the number of Wi-Fi related issues experienced by students and staff. We were pleasantly surprised by how smooth the entire process was, and they achieved a significant objective of the plan which was to reduce licensing costs. We can now save around £15,000 a year which, in turn, has returned us some budget to spend elsewhere on other important projects to support our student residents.”

When you are recommending a product to a customer, you need to know that the technology you are proposing will not only deliver but will also significantly enhance a client’s environment. Having worked with TP-Link many times before, we knew the Omada range would more than solve the issues raised by Manor Villages with regards to its current Wi-Fi set up."

Ben White, Director at AirGen IT