Mid Sussex District Council
UK Council Sees Productivity Turnaround after Nebula Delivers Bigger Coverage, Better Management
Background
Mid Sussex District Council was relying on a wireless controller that was running 20 APs and connected to a standard broadband line but not the office network. Wireless clients needed to use a VPN to access office network resources like printers and storage. This approach isolated the network for security purposes but added substantial overhead and reduced the quality and speed of corporate network connections.
The upgrade also needed to expand coverage at the council building, which was at only 50%, and improve the user experience, including interminable login times. “The goal was to get a good value for money solution,” Council Infrastructure Engineer Dan Holden says.
The council consulted Vibrant Networks, which specializes in IT services in the public sector for the ideal solution, and Zyxel's Nebula cloud management solution was highly recommended. “After evaluating the vendors, all four team members agreed that Zyxel was the best choice.” After Zyxel’s Nebula solution along with 55 WiFi 6 APs and multi-gigabit smart-managed switches were deployed, the council was satisfied with the results.
“The solutions were really easy to use and allowed us to set up networks for public and private guests with just a few clicks,”
Dan Holden says. Putting the office and wireless networks on the same infrastructure, he adds, has greatly improved speed and quality without sacrificing security. And, critically, the staff are happier and more productive, able to log in quickly and take Teams calls anywhere without fear of dropouts.
Challenges
The council building had inconsistent wireless coverage across the site and lengthy log-in times, meaning time that could've gone toward the business was wasted, and separate Wi-Fi networks meant the connectivity quality was lowered. A high-performance solution that was inexpensive and easy to use was needed to fix these issues.
Value
Mid-Sussex now benefits from seamless, more efficient public service and smooth conference calls without worrying about dropouts. Easier network management enabled faster network deployment and configuration, and office and wireless networks on the same infrastructure improved the speed and quality without sacrificing security.
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