Connect the Classroom scheme

Nigel Milligan, IT manager to schools and businesses, discusses the benefits of wifi 6 on the Connect the Classroom scheme

Read the full article below or on page 32 in our February magazine 

Throughout the pandemic the government issued devices to many schools across the country to enable pupils to complete their schoolwork at home. It soon became clear upon returning these devices to the classroom that the school wifi and infrastructure wasn’t of a good enough standard to sustain the ongoing use and addition of more much-needed devices in school. 

In 2021 Connect the Classroom was introduced as a pilot scheme for 1,000 schools. The scheme allowed these schools to upgrade their wireless networks to the next gen wifi 6 standard to future-proof them for many years ahead. This scheme has now been extended to the 55 areas selected as education investment areas to raise school standards.

The resources that can be provided are extensive, and will ensure that all parts of the wireless infrastructure are sufficiently upgraded. The summary below highlights what is possible; CAT6 cabling to all wifi AP data points, core and edge switches, wifi 6 system, all installation costs and licensing/support for many years, plus links between buildings can also be upgraded to fibre to improve all round connectivity.

The invite will be sent to each school and the first step will be to return a completed network asset Form which your IT support provider will need to help you complete. The more information you can provide on this form, the better. It is important to highlight any weaknesses in your current system so that these can be taken into account.

If the DfE accepts your application to replace the existing system, they will send you a confirmation email containing a number of documents including technical guidance, supplier information, a cost matrix and a technical summary. Once you have this you are then ready to contact an approved partner who can help deliver the project. At the time of writing this article, if you Google ‘DfE Connect the Classroom 2022’ there are many approved suppliers listed. Your existing IT support provider should be able to provide guidance for you and assist accordingly.

Why wifi 6? 

This month some of the schools I work with have already started to receive the invites and their network asset forms have been duly completed and returned. The process is simple enough, and easy to complete. 

Why wifi 6, you may ask? At this time, only the latest of devices support wifi 6; most modern devices in the last few years support the AC (wifi 5) standard which is still fast. However, wifi 6 has much more to offer such as improved device battery life and much faster speeds than wifi 5. It has improved safety protocols and an increased number of devices supported by one router. The main downside to wifi 6 is the higher cost of installation and requirement for the latest device models that support wifi 6.

We don’t have the latest up-to-date devices – which new devices support wifi 6?

• Apple iPads – 10th Generation iPad, iPad Air and iPad Pro. The 9th Generation iPad is still the most popular iPad in schools but still only supports wifi 5 (AC).

• Windows Laptops, Apple Macbooks and Chromebooks – wifi 6 is available on all of these. Again, the cost of these devices is much higher than the affordable devices that most schools use in larger numbers for pupils.

It will be a few more years before wifi 6 is standard on all the affordable devices that schools will purchase. The main benefit of this scheme is to ensure that the infrastructure is in place for the future to provide the best service possible for all devices.