DfE Connecting the Classroom project funding

[bitznpcz]

Had one school get approved to the value of around £15k for around 8 AP's + Licensing + Switches + Associated Install Costs

Using all Meraki Equipment - this was one of the smaller schools we support

 

Just have more paperwork to fill in now to get everything submitted

 

That's really good... I'm anticipating similar costs at two of my schools. Did you manage to include any cabling upgrades at that price? We have CAT5 in places and CAT5e in others so would like to cat CAT6 if possible...

[password1234]

That's really good... I'm anticipating similar costs at two of my schools. Did you manage to include any cabling upgrades at that price? We have CAT5 in places and CAT5e in others so would like to cat CAT6 if possible...

 

Yup for this particular school they need around 3 extra Data points installed in various classroom, this got approved as well using CAT6 Standard

 

Other schools we have submitted bid for getting Fibre connection installed from main building to mobile classrooms (Awaiting outcome of that)

 

Only thing they would not fund is replacing existing CAT5 Cabling with Cat6 unfortunately, but we will have to just work with what is given

[CELT-IS]

Long time lurker - first time poster!

 

Have had 3 schools accepted on this project all from the Original Rural Broadband Scheme. We have gone for Aruba Kit (when there is any stock!!!) and the 3 projects total about £100k.

Mainly 515 APs, a couple of outdoor APs and 2930m switches.

[DarrenC]

Just wondering what peoples thoughts are on Ruckus as a solution for wifi6?

[HD2022]

Cisco Meraki / HP Aruba are approved by DFE both secure & scalable in my experience with greater user capacity better coverage being multigigabit WiFi 6

[DarrenC]

Thanks,

 

I believe that there are no DFE approved products/brands, just those that meet the output spec. I think all the brands cover these points as they are all wifi6, I was just interested if anyone has direct experience of Ruckus?

[Fozzyfoster]

Hi All,

 

Im looking for alittle advice, we have around 8 primary schools that are eligible for this scheme, and have got the school through the Phase 1 of 3 phases, basically the "what have you currently got!"

Now this is where it gets a little interesting, most of the school that are eligable, are currently running Unfi 24/48 POE Ubiquiti switches, with UAC Pro AP, or possibly older but are about the be replace.

 

My problem is, i dont know any other product, what i mean by that, is i am fully aware of Cisco Meraki, Rukus, Aruba etc but i have zero, nadda, zilch experience with these products. We go for Ubiquiti for all of the school we support because its cheap, plug it in, few configs and away we go, full gig network in minutes with zero oncost for annual licencing!

 

Im swinging more toward the Aruba side (unless anyone can convince me otherwise) but again, this is quite the gift from these rural schools and i dont want to get it wrong for them! Ideally, WiFi 6 to future proof the school.

 

Now, how true this is i dont know, but i have had a conversation with a chap at the DfE in regard hardware requirements he had basically told me, that i cant quote for Ubiquiti stuff, mainly because the Unifi Wireless is not a "certified" wireless solution and i would have to put a very compelling form forward for them to even consider the purchase of Ubiquiti hardware. So, this is where i become unstuck, as obviously, i have kinda narrowed my skill a little with only using Ubiquiti equipment. Any advice, guidance etc would be hughly appreciated!

 

Also, are you going for hardware onsite controller or Cloud based Controllers? just curious....... HELP!?

[snagrat]

Get the provider who you go with to provide training. The costs will be covered by the DfE.

 

The Cisco Meraki stuff is dead easy so very little to actually learn

[Primus]

Hi All,

 

Im looking for alittle advice, we have around 8 primary schools that are eligible for this scheme, and have got the school through the Phase 1 of 3 phases, basically the "what have you currently got!"

Now this is where it gets a little interesting, most of the school that are eligable, are currently running Unfi 24/48 POE Ubiquiti switches, with UAC Pro AP, or possibly older but are about the be replace.

 

My problem is, i dont know any other product, what i mean by that, is i am fully aware of Cisco Meraki, Rukus, Aruba etc but i have zero, nadda, zilch experience with these products. We go for Ubiquiti for all of the school we support because its cheap, plug it in, few configs and away we go, full gig network in minutes with zero oncost for annual licencing!

 

Im swinging more toward the Aruba side (unless anyone can convince me otherwise) but again, this is quite the gift from these rural schools and i dont want to get it wrong for them! Ideally, WiFi 6 to future proof the school.

 

Now, how true this is i dont know, but i have had a conversation with a chap at the DfE in regard hardware requirements he had basically told me, that i cant quote for Ubiquiti stuff, mainly because the Unifi Wireless is not a "certified" wireless solution and i would have to put a very compelling form forward for them to even consider the purchase of Ubiquiti hardware. So, this is where i become unstuck, as obviously, i have kinda narrowed my skill a little with only using Ubiquiti equipment. Any advice, guidance etc would be hughly appreciated!

 

Also, are you going for hardware onsite controller or Cloud based Controllers? just curious....... HELP!?

 

I doubt you have really narrowed your skill. Networking is networking.

 

A little bit of training on whichever new kit you go for and you'll be fine - you probably know far more than you give yourself credit for.

 

If you really don't like using the CLI then most stuff now has a decent enough GUI.

[bitznpcz]

We've gone for Cisco Meraki in my two schools. I'm also a big user of Ubiquiti across my other schools, but the DfE grant includes user acceptance testing and handover time with the installer so you should receive a bit of training on the new system (whichever you choose).

 

I believe the reason the DfE don't allow Ubiquiti is because they don't give 5 year warranties. We went with Meraki as that gives 10 years - there's no way the schools could ever afford this kit again...

[RedwayNetworks_Michael]

DfE need manufacturer warranty and support.

Unify offers neither.

 

The requirements from DfE are very overkill and means only a couple of vendors are able to offer anything.

 

Aruba and Meraki must be having a field day with Connect the classroom

[RedwayNetworks_Michael]

Suppliers should be offering training and support who are working on DfE projects

 

 

 

Hi All,

 

Im looking for alittle advice, we have around 8 primary schools that are eligible for this scheme, and have got the school through the Phase 1 of 3 phases, basically the "what have you currently got!"

Now this is where it gets a little interesting, most of the school that are eligable, are currently running Unfi 24/48 POE Ubiquiti switches, with UAC Pro AP, or possibly older but are about the be replace.

 

My problem is, i dont know any other product, what i mean by that, is i am fully aware of Cisco Meraki, Rukus, Aruba etc but i have zero, nadda, zilch experience with these products. We go for Ubiquiti for all of the school we support because its cheap, plug it in, few configs and away we go, full gig network in minutes with zero oncost for annual licencing!

 

Im swinging more toward the Aruba side (unless anyone can convince me otherwise) but again, this is quite the gift from these rural schools and i dont want to get it wrong for them! Ideally, WiFi 6 to future proof the school.

 

Now, how true this is i dont know, but i have had a conversation with a chap at the DfE in regard hardware requirements he had basically told me, that i cant quote for Ubiquiti stuff, mainly because the Unifi Wireless is not a "certified" wireless solution and i would have to put a very compelling form forward for them to even consider the purchase of Ubiquiti hardware. So, this is where i become unstuck, as obviously, i have kinda narrowed my skill a little with only using Ubiquiti equipment. Any advice, guidance etc would be hughly appreciated!

 

Also, are you going for hardware onsite controller or Cloud based Controllers? just curious....... HELP!?

[IT_JB]

The issue now is that because you are restricted somewhat on the hardware, the lead times (particularly on APs) are crazy. Currently at 90 days for most of the Meraki APs.

[RedwayNetworks_Michael]

The issue now is that because you are restricted somewhat on the hardware, the lead times (particularly on APs) are crazy. Currently at 90 days for most of the Meraki APs.

 

If you are using the MR36 and lead times too long, let your supplier know its causing an issue and you may be able to get upgraded to MR44 for no extra costs.

Ive had a few cases like this where Meraki helped out.

 

Sadly i think lead times will get worse before better

[Net-Ctrl]

I think the challenge for anyone looking right now is securing stock of the vendor of choice for equipment that meets the requirements before the deadline comes. I believe DFE are aware of delays across many manufacturers, so would hope will be reviewing possible extension. It may mean widening your vendor selection list to ensure relevant equipment can be provided in time.

 

If anyone has been approved and would like to look at a Ruckus proposal that meets the requirements, please let us know.

[StevieM]

We had a few emails, last week, that I thought was a phishing expedition (see my post in the Phishing thread) but it turns out they're likely to be genuine, if several months out of date.

 

Could someone who has applied take a look and let me know if you received the same, please?

 

TIA

[IT_JB]

We had a few emails, last week, that I thought was a phishing expedition (see my post in the Phishing thread) but it turns out they're likely to be genuine, if several months out of date.

 

Could someone who has applied take a look and let me know if you received the same, please?

 

TIA

 

Yes those are the initial emails. If you email them you might still be able to apply for the funding.

[DarrenC]

I think the challenge for anyone looking right now is securing stock of the vendor of choice for equipment that meets the requirements before the deadline comes. I believe DFE are aware of delays across many manufacturers, so would hope will be reviewing possible extension. It may mean widening your vendor selection list to ensure relevant equipment can be provided in time.

 

If anyone has been approved and would like to look at a Ruckus proposal that meets the requirements, please let us know.

 

I know the DFE wont be offering any extensions as they have this budget until March so there is a hard deadline to get the work done by February if you were in the initial group who were invited to join.

[RedwayNetworks_Michael]

DfE are still approving solutions so its definitely worth sending the forms back, they are responding quickly too

[password1234]

We had a few emails, last week, that I thought was a phishing expedition (see my post in the Phishing thread) but it turns out they're likely to be genuine, if several months out of date.

 

Could someone who has applied take a look and let me know if you received the same, please?

 

TIA

Yup those are the emails we got too, if in doubt i would give DFE a call just to confirm they are legit

[password1234]

I know the DFE wont be offering any extensions as they have this budget until March so there is a hard deadline to get the work done by February if you were in the initial group who were invited to join.

We have over 9 schools confirmed for DFE project, one of them got approved end of July and its been 2 months and still the cisco kit has not been shipped out yet!

 

Going to be real tight this!

[snagrat]

We have over 9 schools confirmed for DFE project, one of them got approved end of July and its been 2 months and still the cisco kit has not been shipped out yet!

 

Going to be real tight this!

 

Still 5 months yet so I wouldn’t be panicking yet.

 

Also has you supplier asked for Meraki to part ship? They won’t usually ship until everything is in.

 

We’ve done a few of these CtC now and we have all the switches installed but just waiting on the APs, so the job will be completed very quickly once they arrive

[StevieM]

We had a few emails, last week, that I thought was a phishing expedition (see my post in the Phishing thread) but it turns out they're likely to be genuine, if several months out of date.

 

Could someone who has applied take a look and let me know if you received the same, please?

 

TIA

 

Received confirmation that we had been invited to apply, so I've now sent off the forms. Here's hoping...

 

Thanks to everyone who responded.

[StevieM]

Accepted!

[password1234]

Has anyone had any lead times for equipment?

 

One of our suppliers have just got back to us saying upto 80 days once order gets through

 

which is about 2.5 months or so and considering we now in Mid October if these time lines are anything to go by then looking at after Christmas for delivery then got the task of then trying to arrange with the school to get the work done, considering claims have to be submitted by Feb to the DFE!

 

and schools are not the quickest to get things ordered and get paperwork done!