LIPA’s New WiFi System Stages a Great Performance
A new WiFi network ensures the show can go on
IN THIS ARTICLE
Company name:
Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA)
Industry:
Education
Company Website:
Lipa.ac.uk
Location:
Liverpool, United Kingdom
The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) has upgraded its WiFi system with a future-proof Total Network Solution from NETGEAR Business, facilitated by Gardner Systems. This upgrade ensures seamless, high-performance wireless access for approximately 1000 students and over 700 devices, supporting various applications and enhancing the overall university experience.
With roots deep in the city’s musical heritage, the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts seeks to deliver the best possible university experience for the students who pass through its doors each year. An increasingly integral part is fast, seamless access to high-performance wireless throughout the expansive site. This is why LIPA has invested in a future-facing Total Network Solution from NETGEAR Business with the help of valued local provider Gardner Systems, helping to make sure that the ‘show will go on’, supporting approximately 1200 students, over 700 devices at any one time, and with room to grow.
Since opening its doors to its first students in 1996, the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) has deservedly secured a reputation as one of the world’s leading universities of its kind, offering its students a wide array of highly respected courses. Graduates have secured an impressive array of accolades, including BAFTAs, Grammys, and Academy Awards, and have worked with a wide range of industry luminaries, such as Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, and Dua Lipa.
The site itself has a uniquely historic background. The university is based across two buildings that were previously the Liverpool College of Art (attended by John Lennon) and the Institute for Boys (where George Harrison and Sir Paul McCartney were pupils). Sir Paul is also LIPA’s lead patron and played an instrumental role in its creation. Despite its history, LIPA is a very modern educational establishment focused on providing its students with the best environment.
For instance, approximately 1200 students from the UK and worldwide have an increasing demand for WiFi as part of their university experience, as Ben Faulkner, LIPA’s ICT manager for almost three decades, has shared. “I can remember when you had to go to the library if you wanted to get on the Internet. These days, students and staff want to bring in their devices — phones, tablets, and laptops — and use them anywhere on the site. We may have 700 devices connected to WiFi at any one time.”
Plus, other applications also depend on WiFi. For instance, there are discrete virtual local area networks (VLANs) for theatre production and audio systems (including one especially for people with hearing impairments), lighting control, and IoT devices such as CCTV, intercoms, and door access controls. WiFi also supports the university’s IP telephony system. Ben explains, “We give people the ability to remain connected as they walk around with their mobile devices, staff can even make international calls using our software-based telephony system, acting as if they are at their desks using normal phone handsets.”
“We had a WiFi solution in place, and it had done a fantastic job over the years, but it was coming towards the end of its life.” Plus, LIPA wanted to move to the newer standard, WiFi 6, with its high bandwidth and enhanced capacity, giving LIPA a more future-proof and scalable solution to support a growing volume of devices and applications, all able to be connected simultaneously without compromising quality.
However, it was not just a simple case of buying and installing a new system: the design had to be carefully planned. This is a big project, with LIPA spread across two buildings and six storeys, so any new WiFi solution had to ensure “that users experience seamless WiFi coverage as they move between areas of the site,” emphasizes Ben.
The installation was going to have some specific requirements. Wireless access points are ideally located on ceilings to be as unobtrusive as possible, but LIPA’s ceilings are often remarkably high. Plus, some areas of the buildings are ‘listed’, meaning they are considered of special architectural interest, giving them legal protection in the United Kingdom, and any changes must be carried out under that protection.
Finally, Ben wanted to minimize any disruption to students and staff, “We provide 24/7 access for students, and rooms are pretty much booked out all day long, including outside of normal business hours, so we needed to pick quieter times to deploy the new network.”
To get help addressing all these needs, Ben contacted LIPA’s long-standing IT and comms supplier, Gardner Systems, for their recommendations. In business since 1985, Gardner Systems provides comprehensive technology solutions for organizations of all kinds and sizes, covering networking and cloud, security, infrastructure and data services.
Says Ben, “We have been working with Gardner Systems since the late 90s, and they are a good bunch of people who always have answers for us. They recommended we take a look at the NETGEAR Total Network Solution.”
Jason Fitzgerald, Chief Operating Officer at Gardner Systems, takes up the story: “Whether wired or wireless, we’ve found that NETGEAR equipment is robust, performs well, and has a good price point, so these factors – in addition to Insight, NETGEAR’s cloud network management portal, which helps with installation and on-going monitoring and maintenance – were compelling elements for this recommendation.”
However, as Jason explains, the first step was for NETGEAR and Gardner Systems to provide Ben with a site survey. “This free-of-charge service for NETGEAR business customers helps us understand the best place to locate access points for optimal coverage and areas to avoid because of barriers to the wireless signal.” The result was a detailed plan of the proposed WiFi layout across the entire site, including equipment recommendations and over 150 NETGEAR wireless access points.
Installation of the new WiFi system was carried out in phases between the second half of 2023 and early 2024 by LIPA’s estates team, with support from Gardner Systems, who accelerated the process and minimized disruption to LIPA by preconfiguring NETGEAR access points, as Jason Fitzgerald explains. “The way that Insight works makes it very easy to add new devices to a standard policy with one configuration replicated across all the access points using the Insight app on our phones. So there was no need to configure the 150 access points on site.”
Insight also makes it easier and more transparent for Gardner and LIPA to manage, adapt, and troubleshoot the network in the future. Says Jason, “Visibility of what’s happening inside is essential when dealing with a network of LIPA’s size and importance. If there is an issue, you want to be able to see where the issue lies straight away so that it can be fixed quickly. Insight provides that visibility, even remotely: it’s very powerful and is the way of the future.”
A smooth installation is one thing, but what about the results? The good news is that Ben reports the move to the new network has been a smooth transition and that “Apart from some people commenting that devices seem to connect faster and downloads take less time, we haven’t had much feedback, which is a good sign because it means the system is working well.”
All this is a testament to the hard work of LIPA’s ICT and estate teams, Gardner Systems’ advice and attention to detail, and the NETGEAR Total Network Solution. This combination gives LIPA’s WiFi network a class act that delivers a performance worthy of rave reviews.
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