What bandwidth can I expect on the Schools Broadband Network?

 

The Sandwell schools' broadband network is a Wide Area Network (WAN) infrastructure that connects schools and other educational institutions within the borough together. Links for all connected schools and some other organisations use a 10Mbit/s dedicated fibre link to connect them to the WAN, (a small number of smaller or remote sites are connected by ASDL links at lower speed).

Internet connection to the WAN is provided from the data centre in Sandwell Council House, in Oldbury. Here, content is checked by the content filters to ensure the safety of our users (we offer a content filtering service that is Becta accredited) and all incoming web content is checked for viruses.

Ongoing connection from the WAN to the Internet uses a 1000Mbit/s dedicated fibre connection (currently across the MidMan3 network) to JANet, the UK academic network, who provide links to the rest of the Internet. These parts of the connection are shared by schools. Bandwidth can be increased if and when necessary, although this would be likely to increase costs.

Broadband Sandwell, together with the ISP, monitor the incoming bandwidth requirement to ensure that the supply can cope with the demand, which is currently around 120Mbit/s at peak times.

Schools might expect to see 10Mbit/s download speeds from systems connected to the WAN, e.g. to servers on the data centre, but lower than this for external content. Please bear in mind that the school's 10Mbit/s connection is shared by all systems within the school, and that a busy school network can impair an individual's access to the broadband link.

When using a bandwidth speed tester, schools should expect a lower level of bandwidth, typically up to 1 to 3 Mbit/s to external sites. This apparent bandwidth reduction will be caused by:

• the effect of "sharing" the bandwidth with other systems at the school
• local issues on the school's network. Contact us for details of how to check for these.

• the overhead of the Anti Virus service mentioned earlier. The broadband contract requires content to be checked for viruses; viruses are unpredictable in nature and a virus outbreak in a school would be likely to cause great disruption. It takes time to check incoming content for viruses, and this function contributes to the reduction in perceived bandwidth.
• other short-term issues, such as faults that are in the process of being rectified. Please check our Broadband Service Information webpage for more information.

There are plans to reduce this latency by upgrading equipment inside the network. This process is ongoing, and a server upgrade is planned for Dec09/Jan10.

 

You can review your school's current bandwidth usage here.

We understand that schools have worked to ensure that workstation level AV is installed over the past few years, and have set up a "Non-AV'd" service which is available to schools. Connection to this service is offered to schools by request, although we will discuss the appropriate "checks and balances" to ensure that other users are not compromised. There may be a reconfiguration charge made for schools who wish to move to this service.

Why is the Schools service more expensive than my home internet service?

We are often asked by schools why it is that the broadband connection costs so much more than those available for the home. The answer is that they are quite different. School connections in Sandwell are 10mb fibre optical links. These are the latest high technology and are 'future-proof', their capacity can easily be increased in the future. Home connections (e.g. ADSL) are based on ordinary copper-based telephone cables and have limitations.

This infrastructure is the modern equivalent of the mains electricity connections made to schools a century ago. Initially, electricity in schools powered only lights and heating, gradually other services were added which were never envisaged when power was first provided; radios, Tannoy/public address systems, stage lighting, television, video recorders, and computers all became necessary features of schools as the years rolled by, each dependent upon electricity. It is anticipated that the same will be true of high quality broadband and Internet services. Currently, only fibre optical cabling offers such expandability.

The DfES have specified minimum standards for school broadband connections. These are; a minimum of 2mb for Primary schools and 8mb for Secondary schools. In Sandwell, we have provided every school with 10mb because in common with many metropolitan areas, 10mb is as cheap as 2mb.

DfES guidance for schools discourages the use of ADSL connections such as those available in the home except when no other alternative is available. ADSL connections are known as a contended services, i.e. the user typically shares the connection with at least 20 other users, the less you pay the more users share the connection. Typically, ADSL allows more data in than out, which limits its suitability for applications such as Video Conferencing.

The Sandwell schools broadband service includes Internet access, content and virus filtering, firewall protection, video conferencing and intrusion detection (anti-hacking). The Sandwell service is a fully managed service, monitoring and managing the broadband network up to the connection point in each school.

Nationally, costs for broadband connections vary from as low as £6,300 per school per year to over £13,000 per year (unsubsidised). The variability depends upon the locality and the range of services provided. London and the South East enjoy the lowest costs, rural areas the highest.

Schools are also recommended to also study the following documents: