“Our internet is not working for Key Stage 1 building, we don’t know why. The cable in the classroom is connected.” Was a call we received from St Mary’s in Banbury. It sounds like a case for Koala IT!
I was first on the scene and was met with a Chubb engineer. What is he doing here? It’s an internet cable problem. However, the plot thickens. The alarms to the infants and nursery building had started going off the day before. Only the main building alarms were working. But why?
I was first on the scene and was met with a Chubb engineer. What is he doing here? It’s an internet cable problem. However, the plot thickens. The alarms to the infants and nursery building had started going off the day before. Only the main building alarms were working. But why?
I checked the network and found a metal box on the outside wall of the main school building, just by the playground. Looking into the box the cause of the problem became clear, there were rodent droppings. The fibre optic cable and alarm cables had been chewed.
The fibre optic cable takes all the computer data from the main building to the Key Stage 1 building. Guess where the cable runs? Right under the playground. The Chubb engineer repaired his cables with a bit of tape. Our fibre optic cable is not as simple, it’s delicate and sophisticated. It cannot be repaired but has to be replaced from the end to end, an expensive job for St Mary’s. We like a challenge!
The fibre optic cable takes all the computer data from the main building to the Key Stage 1 building. Guess where the cable runs? Right under the playground. The Chubb engineer repaired his cables with a bit of tape. Our fibre optic cable is not as simple, it’s delicate and sophisticated. It cannot be repaired but has to be replaced from the end to end, an expensive job for St Mary’s. We like a challenge!
And the ICT solution was?
We knew that replacing the cable was not a viable option for the school due to the extensive cost and having the playground out of action. An IT plan was hatched. To minimise disruption and ensure the safety of the children we went into St Mary’s over half term. We created a network point in a small room at the end of the school’s main building and laid a CAT6 networking cable under the playground. This connected to the relevant cable cabinets.
Phil and I enlisted the help of a regular associate, Paul Foster from North Berks Electrics. In order to install the cable we connected it to existing ropes (left in the ducting under the playground) and pulled it through. The cable had to be in two stages due to a break in the ducting under a manhole cover in the middle of the playground (life in ICT is never simple!). These had not been disturbed for years. Getting the cable through the relevant building walls was tricky, requiring a bit of drilling over at the main building. The school had an alternative for the old fibre optic cable and much cheaper than replacing like for like.
Phil and I enlisted the help of a regular associate, Paul Foster from North Berks Electrics. In order to install the cable we connected it to existing ropes (left in the ducting under the playground) and pulled it through. The cable had to be in two stages due to a break in the ducting under a manhole cover in the middle of the playground (life in ICT is never simple!). These had not been disturbed for years. Getting the cable through the relevant building walls was tricky, requiring a bit of drilling over at the main building. The school had an alternative for the old fibre optic cable and much cheaper than replacing like for like.
After testing the link to ensure that it would be suitable for the data transfer we celebrated with a cup of tea! In just over three hours we had solved the problem. Something to brighten up a drizzly day in Banbury!
The infants and nursery were reconnected to the internet so when the children and staff returned to school after half-term they could continue using their netbooks and laptops.
If you’d like to have Koala IT team sort out your internet problems or repair cables please contact us for no-obligation chat about your school’s ICT.
Bill Wicker
Director
The infants and nursery were reconnected to the internet so when the children and staff returned to school after half-term they could continue using their netbooks and laptops.
If you’d like to have Koala IT team sort out your internet problems or repair cables please contact us for no-obligation chat about your school’s ICT.
Bill Wicker
Director
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