Ports to every desk...

[dave.81]

Now i know this could end up in a huge debate about whether it's the way forward, PAT, security and the lark but can we try to avoid it plenty of other threads for that

 

Our HM is looking at 2 classrooms which are to be re-furbed over the summer and has asked that we "futureproof" the rooms with cat5 and power to every desk. Now my thought is that all desks will have to be fixed in place with the cabling run under the floor to the desks then somehow mounted to them.

 

Does anyone else have a similar setup?

[dgsmith]

Surely futureproofing is heading towards wireless connectivity? If the Government want every student to have a laptop in however many years, then i'd imagine priority is to have a stable wireless network; a network point to every desk to me seems overkill, but that's just my opinion.

 

Any new standard classroooms or refurbs we get (no time soon), I would propose several around the outside of the room fixed to the wall (if a normal classroom), maybe 15 or so, so capacity for half a suite is there if need be. I suppose it all depends on what long term plans you have for the room and/or ICT in your school.

 

If you still want a run to each desk, depending on what the room is like, it may involve chasing the floor, which could be costly and time consuming. We were initially planning to do this for our new ICT suite, but eventually decided upon an alternate layout which meant all computer desks attached to the wall. Are they your average classroom tables that can be moved, or fixed to the floor?

Edited March 13, 2008 by dgsmith

[ZeroHour]

I would have enough wall ports for the desks but not actually run the cat5 to the desk.

If you can, I would flood wire it for network use.

[DMcCoy]

Although if you are going to run the power anyway, might as well do the network, helps for stuff like ghosting etc where you can't use wireless (as well as being faster for general use)

[strawberry]

use trunking in the floor. Might involve laying a new floor though.

[dave.81]

My intial thought was wireless too but with the thought of running power it made sense to run cat5 too. This is for the future plan of all pupils having laptops, whether it be college provided or their own that decision has not been made.

 

The entire room is being stripped, new floor, new ceiling, new tables/chairs so is a blank space at the moment.

 

I am not making the decisions i do not think we need to be worrying about this at the moment think there are more important things to be throwning money at, like a faulty core switch.

[Ric_]

Flipscreen desks - ISIS are sponsors of the Windows Forum. They will also help you plan the room - James is a genius when it comes to room design and he will think of things that you could never imagine!

[gaz350]

We had James Clarke (Isis) in recently and would definitely advise you have a chat with them.

[srochford]

The entire room is being stripped, new floor, new ceiling, new tables/chairs so is a blank space at the moment.

 

 

Is this "new floor" as in "new tiles or carpet" or could it be "new floor" as in "raised floor"? If it can be that then your life can be so much easier - everything is basically loose under the floor and you just have holes (properly known as "grommets" but they're just holes) that you put the wires through. Gives you incredible flexibility but it's not cheap!

[torledo]

Now i know this could end up in a huge debate about whether it's the way forward, PAT, security and the lark but can we try to avoid it plenty of other threads for that

 

Our HM is looking at 2 classrooms which are to be re-furbed over the summer and has asked that we "futureproof" the rooms with cat5 and power to every desk. Now my thought is that all desks will have to be fixed in place with the cabling run under the floor to the desks then somehow mounted to them.

 

Does anyone else have a similar setup?

 

I would also advocate floor boxes for power and data to each desk....but if you have a concrete floor fitting floor boxes is hideously expensive. When you say 'new floor' i presume you mean new floor covering or maybe a bit of skimming plus floor covering rather than a raised floor. In which case fitting floor wiring would eat up a large chunk of the budget.

 

Better alternative would be to wire new sockets along and underneath the desks. Branching off at T's from the walls.... data cabling can be run alongside in a seperate conduit.

 

Also the words cat5 and futureproof don't belong in the same sentence. New cabling installations should be minimum cat6 if you want to truly futureproof.

[steve]

A combination of floor boxes, 3 compartment trunking around the sides and perhaps something like these linky

[localzuk]

We re-did one of ICT suites to use pods rather than benching so had the problem of how to run cabling - coming from the roof was a no-no as the drop is about 20ft (tall rooms!), and the floor is concrete.

 

We did it by laying a second floor on top with floor boxes in. Makes it nice and easy.

 

That'd be my way of doing it anyway.

[Joedetic]

I'd mention the raised floor idea because then you get the tiles that have the cable holes in and then the cost of the raised floor but the advantage of the modular design.

 

Raised floor also offers modular design for power access with power rails being sub-tile too.

[torledo]

We've not had any kind of retro-fitted raised floor in our buildng other than a small platform which used floor tiles for cable access....

 

but would a problem not be with a raised floor in a cassroom the increased height/level compared to any adjacent corrider - what do you do about access in these cases or is there a way to make the new floor meet flush with the corridor floor.

[dave.81]

Raised floor has been mentioned and i think that they were going to speak to the design company about the difficulties in doing it.

 

Thanks for all the ideas it's great to be able to go into the meeting and lay out all these for them

[localzuk]

We've not had any kind of retro-fitted raised floor in our buildng other than a small platform which used floor tiles for cable access....

 

but would a problem not be with a raised floor in a cassroom the increased height/level compared to any adjacent corrider - what do you do about access in these cases or is there a way to make the new floor meet flush with the corridor floor.

 

We added a step, but if needed we can add a wheelchair ramp.

[Oops_my_bad]

Surely futureproofing is heading towards wireless connectivity?

 

No, no, no...