SchoolBlazer

Schoolblazer are the UK’s largest supplier of uniform and sportswear to independent schools with a unique online service. With a large in-house distribution operation Schoolblazer needed a system to help manage their stock management with site wide coverage.

DigitalAir were contacted to survey and install a new network in the Warehouse to ensure that there was complete coverage for any handheld devices that were being used on site. The new network needed to be compatible with these devices, as well as the potential for staff BYOD.

DigitalAir survey, designed and installed a new Ruckus Zonedirector 1100 controller managed network, with Zone ex 7000 series 802.11n access points and continued to support the network on Schoolblazer’s behalf.

The Problem

After the Ruckus Network had been installed for just over two years, the increasing needs of the business meant that Schoolblazer had to carry out extra work on the warehouse site in order to increase the available capacity to cope with demand. With extra oors and racking installed in two of the units, Schoolblazer found that there had been a knock on effect to the performance of the previously installed network.

Upgrading the Wi-Fi was always going to be a part of the warehouse upgrade project. It was only when used in anger the handheld devices really began to struggle with Wi-Fi communications.

The Solution

Schoolblazer were just headed towards their peak trading season, so the resolution needed to be turned around quickly. DigitalAir started by conducting a full site health check to determine coverage black spots in the existing network and any sources of interference. An RF survey scoped mounting locations for access points, plotted potential cable runs back to the networking switches for a complete end to end solution.

Rather than installing extra AP’s and ood the area with RF, a design was created to move the existing locations of a few access points in order to optimise their coverage areas, as well as a few extra access points introduced into the site for coverage in these new areas.

DigitalAir installed newer Ruckus R500 802.11ac access points to the network to help future proof the network, as well as still being backwards compatible with the client devices used on site. Capable of working in tandem with the previously installed Zone ex 7000 series, it saved Schoolblazer from a costly complete overhaul of the network, and also from installing older hardware that may soon be unsupportable.

The Outcome

In order to stick to the timeframe required by Schoolblazer, the project was completed from initial contact through the survey to full installation in 20 days, and is operating to the high standards set by Schoolblazer.

A con rmation survey following the installation was able to prove that the customer had the blanket coverage previously experienced before the extra work in the warehouse, and were able to roam the warehouse oors with their handheld devices as required.

I was very impressed with how professional DigitalAir’s engineers are, onsite, and how they work around my operational needs.