SUMMARY
Consequently, Apogee was so pleased that it asked to keep the demo kit, which is
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BACKGROUND
Based in the British town of Telford and with over 25 years of experience, Apogee Property and Utility
Consultants Ltd delivers best-in-class property and utility reports, from small residential developments to
supporting the requirements of complex development consent order (DCO) applications. The volume of
often time-sensitive data transmitted means that having robust and high-performance network
connectivity is vital, as Mike Minton, Head of IT Services & Service Development, explains.
“We are at the forefront of using the latest technology in the geospatial industry, supplying reports
containing large amounts of data that we collect and collate. We provide a 24/7 service to clients and
often deliver reports within 24 hours, so a fast network and reliability is essential.” Mike provides some
further context: “If someone is on-site and does not have the correct utility report, then that’s a problem.
They need to know how to make sure that the utilities, such as gas, telecom or water, get to that site.
They need to know where the ducts and cables are. We provide that information to support their
decision-making.”
THE CHALLENGE
While the company’s previous WiFi system performed well for years, Mike felt that it no longer served
its purpose, and the technology provider’s lack of assistance or response was a big issue. Says Mike,
“Should the system go down, there was no one I could call. The manufacturer released changes very
fast, and if we experienced problems, we would not receive assistance. There was one situation where
I was on holiday at the other end of the country, and the WiFi system went down. Using my phone and
FaceTime, I had to guide one of the directors through the settings to manually reconfigure the system.
That is unacceptable: we cannot be in a situation with an outage, and we are not supported.”
So, with the decision made to replace the existing system, Mike contacted several network technology
manufacturers, one of which was NETGEAR, which forwarded the enquiry to trusted local reseller
Coventry-based Ballicom, whose Technical Sales Manager, Gary Twigger, then contacted Mike. The
Coventry-based IT services company, which was established in 1993, provides a range of technology
products and services with a strong focus on being a strategic partner that helps its customers meet
their business goals. Daisy Davidson, VAR Channel Account Manager at NETGEAR, UK, says, “We
know that when we put a prospective customer in touch with Ballicom, they can confidently expect a
very proactive response.”
In turn, Gary is an advocate for NETGEAR: “I explained to Mike that NETGEAR is a company that
genuinely seems to care and will help as much as they can. And the equipment is extremely good.” For
instance, besides matching the existing WiFi system’s features, NETGEAR supported Apogee’s
additional requirements, such as banning or allowing access to individual URLs rather than just filtering
them by category.
DEMO KIT FOR CUSTOMISED CONFIGURATION
While Gary was sure NETGEAR was a good match for Apogee, he wanted them to have the opportunity to experience the technology themselves before making a commitment. So, he offered to loan the company a NETGEAR demo kit comprising a multigig pro network router (with Power over Ethernet), two wireless access points and a trial licence for Insight, NETGEAR’s cloud-based network management portal. From the moment the demo kit was delivered, Mike’s opinion of NETGEAR rose.
“The free trial kit was brilliant. It worked out of the box and was easy to understand. Also, I needed to
reset the configuration to suit our needs, and I could go into the equipment and do that with a few clicks.” That said — and even with Mike’s decades of network engineering know-how — he did need to turn to Ballicom and NETGEAR for support, which was also a positive experience.
Mike reports, “ The support we have received from all the individual parties involved has been
tremendous and has helped us sell on NETGEAR. Showing me how to set up features like URL
forwarding and blocking, how to create VLANs, and how the network topology is set up has all helped
me make the right decisions. NETGEAR support has been responsive, easy to understand and to the
point.” He continues, “We’ve had great communication from Daisy and Gary, who kept us in the loop
and didn’t forget about us. Persistence is a crucial part of a good working relationship.”
BOXES TICKED
Mike also cites the benefits of the NETGEAR Insight portal. “This is a big feature for us because if I’m off-
site, I can still access and manage the network via the cloud. If something needs changing, then I can do
that from wherever I am, from my mobile. Insight is easy to navigate, simple, and works.”
Mike adds, “The cost was not the reason for going with NETGEAR because it was not the cheapest
option. However, it ticked all the boxes so that, together with the company’s longevity and my own
previous experience using its technology, helped us to make our decision. Also, the subscription cost for
Insight was priced exceptionally well. When I told my director about the positive experience with the
NETGEAR demo kit, he said they are not getting that back!”
This proved to be the case. While NETGEAR demo kits are usually returned to the channel partner, since
this system had been configured by Apogee for its specific requirements, everyone agreed that this
should be an exception. Ballicom has since replaced the demo kit with a new one that it is able to share
with other prospective customers. Gary Twigger says, “The NETGEAR demo kit is a great way for
companies to experience the technology and experiment with it at their own pace, on their own terms,
without risk.”
SMOOTH HANDOVER
To minimise the risk of disruption to Apogee’s customer service, Mike decided to run both the existing
WiFi system and the NETGEAR replacement in tandem via a dual-WAN router from Apogee’s fibre
operator. Furthermore, while Mike had put the NETGEAR system through its paces in test mode, its actual
implementation took place during the relatively quieter period between Christmas 2024 and the New
Year.
Mike concludes, “I’m confident that going forward, we have a network we can trust, with the knowledge
that if we need support from Ballicom or NETGEAR, that will happen.” In the meantime, the demo kit has
given Apogee the ability to test out how new network technology can meet its own needs, with the
freedom to explore configuration on its own premises and at its own pace.
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