Viglen

[StewartKnight]

 

Don't use Viglen, they tie YOUR machines, so when you come to cancelling the contract, you have to nuke the machines, and they charge you for the "tech" support to tell you, that they refuse to help you, if you're moving off their Classlink network!!!!!

 

 

 

Stewart Knight

Network Manager

Appleby Grammar School

[ninjabeaver]

You will be using them again soon then Stewart?

 

Our system used to be a Viglen Classlink system. What a mess it was. NT4 and Windows 95 machines running off a hashed together network.

 

I did ask them to requote for a new server giving them a budget etc., and they STILL came back only with an offer of a whole new install of server and clients for well over four times our quoted budget.

 

I've never bothered looking them up since.

[Dos_Box]

Been there, done that. I was a network manager at a high school in 2000 who had been sold classlink. What a pile of junk. We ditched them and purchased the component parts (Net Support Manger and Imagecast) direct from the manufacturersand saved a fortune.

[StewartKnight]

I'm the same as you Dos_box, the ICT teacher had bought Viglen Classlink years ago, and they we're quoting a huge amount to update the network.

 

In September they employed me (1st ever technician in the school!!!), and I told them where to shove it!

 

Important IT decisions should not be left to teachers, especially ICT teachers!

[Dos_Box]

That was my situation. The Head of ICT at the time of the Viglen purchase was an English teacher. I was employed after the previous technician (an 18 year old lad well out of his depth) quit due to the head of ICT being a 'Bitch Queen From Hell'.

I suffered 5 months of Viglen 'service' then arranged through the bursar to spend a bit of money of upgrading to AD and 2K server and Win 2K where possible on the desktops.

Oh! And the Viglen hardware sucks!!

[Ric_]

Your fave subject Chris!!!

[free4440273]

against my [sound] advice, a school i no longer work in [thankfully] went for viglen classlink win95 clients - absolute dross, complete waste of money [close to 50k]. funny peculiar me thinks: as an IT engineer you dole out your advice ['don't go for viglen']; the school rebuts your advice; school regrets not having taken your advice after wasting 50K; IT engineer gets the blame; head and IT co-ordinator who both initially praised the system get away with murder. funny? no. peculiar? yes.

oh to be a teacher and do nothing all day...what fun.

[free4440273]

*just to add when i say they went for win 95 clients, this was over 8rs ago.

[RobC]

Strangely enough, one of our departments has just bought three standalone Viglen systems. First I know of it is when I see three Viglen boxes & associated monitors sitting in reception with the department's name on it. I really hope they're not expecting me to support them. Especially as it's our Council's policy that schools must buy from our Managed Service providor in order to ensure that the machines can be connected to the network if required...

[Dos_Box]

*just to add when i say they went for win 95 clients, this was over 8rs ago.

My old school got 95 clients in 99!!

[DMcCoy]

*just to add when i say they went for win 95 clients, this was over 8rs ago.

My old school got 95 clients in 99!!

 

In the summer of 2003 we went from Netware 6 (I hate it, such a bad product - so many file system updates and lots of file corruption), and Windows 98SE clients to Windows Server 2003 and all XP clients. Took some fiddling to get sims (old version) running on 2003 as some installers didn't work, but I pinched the reg keys from the old NT4 server. Dumped sophos at the same time

[Dos_Box]

I can't understand why people have such problems with Sophos. In Lancashire we've got it nailed down to a tee.

[free4440273]

there is nothing wrong with sophos per se - but it is over-rated and there are better ant-virus installs out there: essest's nod32 in particular is outstanding (i use it in all of my schools).

[DMcCoy]

I can't understand why people have such problems with Sophos. In Lancashire we've got it nailed down to a tee.

 

Because the lea bought a license that didn't give us enterprise manager at the time, so when I wanted to scan all the machines they had to be ON. With symantec, it will perform the scan next boot if its turned off.

 

I also got fed up with it when I had a laptop with blaster, it continually told me about the virus, but refused to do anything about it.

 

My last set of laptops has the groups error which makes me glad I got rid of it, not to mention one of the new versions slowly grinds servers to a halt.

 

Thats just my personal experience though. If it works for anyone else, thats fine, it didn't work for me

[kevinmcaleer]

To be fair to companies such as RM and Viglen, if your school bought a network 'system' that provides services such as user admin and software deploy, it might not be 'right' for your school when a newer network manager with more experience is employed.

 

I had an RM connect network, and for many years it provided the school with exactly what they wanted. However shortly after I had been employed I decided that I could provide a more advanced network for probably less money than was being spent on the RM system. I could also provide a better support service, as i was onsite 5 days a week.

 

However, this doesn't mean that all of a sudden the RM connect system is a load of rubbish. Its still a great product, and there are many happy customers. If it was a load of rubbish, RM wouldn't still be selling it because there would be no customers. Basic Market Economics.

 

I understand that sometimes it's very frustrating if you want to do something on your network that you are prevented from doing because the system doesn't let you, but the point of a network system from RM or Viglen is that its a known system. If anyone could do anything to the system, it would be very difficult to support and maintain. By its very nature its quite rigid in design and use.

 

Once you have matured beyond the need for this type of system, maybe its time you implemented a 'vanilla' network more suited to the needs of your school.

 

-Kev

[russdev]

now you done it kev wella s'rm school' here my views of rm are mised always said with rm there biggist downfall was the constent need to replace ms standard parts with rm parts and the lack of flexability.

 

now luckly i spent many time and i now have rm 'working' for me the people do what i want and not what they want me to do.

 

RM has improved over few years as they have suddenly undersootd they need to be flexable..

 

Saying that I have email of various rm staff and i know how to play the game as to speak and think working with companies like rm and viglan is about playing the game.

 

Russ

[starscream]

I also think that the Viglen hardware is tosh! Wireless laptops not working wirelessly. Servers that start to fall apart a few months down the line. CD drives breaking in desktops all the time and half of the drives wont allow booting from CD anymore! Sold us inferior wireless access points.

 

We also had a laptop suite of 12 laptops and after 3 years they all started to lock up, every single one. Nothing had changed! I did an investigation and took some apart and turns out that the voltage was set wrong on every single laptop and it had fried the processor and made it unstable!

 

I swear down, if I ever see another Viglen machine!....

 

...and you know what Viglen's answer was to all our problems? To keep us holding on and waiting for as long as it took for me to give in and stop ringing and complaining. Not one problem was sorted. They tried to fix the problems onsite and return to base but in the end after all the backwards and forwards I simply gave in. There is only so long you can spent chasing stuff like this up, in the end I just replaced all the Viglen tosh.

 

I have no idea how Sir Alan Sugar is so rich when he provides services like this. There's hope for me yet!

[altecsole]

Servers that start to fall apart a few months down the line. CD drives breaking in desktops all the time and half of the drives wont allow booting from CD anymore! Sold us inferior wireless access points.

 

How did the servers fall apart?

 

CD drives in classrooms are just asking for trouble. The abuse they get means they last no time at all.

 

What were the wireless access points inferior to?

 

We also had a laptop suite of 12 laptops and after 3 years they all started to lock up, every single one. Nothing had changed! I did an investigation and took some apart and turns out that the voltage was set wrong on every single laptop and it had fried the processor and made it unstable!

 

Three yeears for a laptop that's being used in an educational environment is good. I wouldn't complain about that.

 

I swear down, if I ever see another Viglen machine!....

 

What does 'I swear down' mean?

 

...and you know what Viglen's answer was to all our problems? To keep us holding on and waiting for as long as it took for me to give in and stop ringing and complaining. Not one problem was sorted. They tried to fix the problems onsite and return to base but in the end after all the backwards and forwards I simply gave in. There is only so long you can spent chasing stuff like this up, in the end I just replaced all the Viglen tosh.

 

I worked in a school that had Viglen kit and the customer support (on the very few occasions we needed it) was always excellent.

 

I have no idea how Sir Alan Sugar is so rich when he provides services like this. There's hope for me yet!

 

Perhaps he learned to be objective about all things. Nothing is ever always good, or bad. Maybe if you learn that too there will be hope for you yet.

[Dos_Box]

Good God!! Someone dragged this topic kicking and screaming from the depths of time!!

I must admit though, my views have mellowed slightly (mainly due to lack of exposure to Classlink in recent years). At the time Classlink came about it was like the wild west when it came to selling to schools. There was a lot of money around and very little in the way of advice to schools on how to spend it correctly. Lots of companies did cobble together products in a rush to cash in, and hardware was often expensive for a low spec machine. Forget getting PIIIs and Athons! I do hope that Viglen have imroved their product and hardware, but I really am in no position to comment as my experience of a product 8 years ago doesn't really count anymore.

[Nij.UK]

Ive worked with viglen classlink and i understand the fustration here, and there tech support is still a pain...

 

But that is in the past now so i dont need to worry about that. Ive always found there hardware to be very good, ive never had to call them regarding hardware issues in the last 4 - 5 years i have been working with it.

 

Also where i work now, viglen is a prefered supplier for PC and so we have to buy through them, if it caused as much problems as people have mentioned here then i dont think they would have manage to get prefered supplier status

[starscream]

How did the servers fall apart? Cheap components, mobo failures, cheap memory. Just cheap in general. The price tag wasn't.

 

CD drives in classrooms are just asking for trouble. The abuse they get means they last no time at all. The kids never seem to mess on with the CD drives here. Just the drives viglen use are again cheap and tatty and aren't up to the job. I use cd booting for imaging and it is a real pain.

What were the wireless access points inferior to? Better wireless access points. One's that work. From day one our wireless network didn't work like I explained in my initial post. Viglen failed to fix it after 6 on site attempts and in the end they just shrugged their shoulders! Absolute disgrace if you ask me. They recommended us the kit to do the job and turns out we needed better kit. As you know, primary school money doesnt grow on trees so we can't just go and replace them with better kit. I have used cisco units in other schools and I must say they work flawlessly. The faulty kit is d-link. Even had d-link engineers out to look at them and they just gave in too. How much can you push something? It was becoming a full time job changing up account managers and tech support at viglen. They sacked 3 account managers in the space of 12 months, how can you get problems solved when thye do that.

 

We also had our IWBs installed by Viglen who at the time didn't have enough staff to do the install so they subcontracted and the company who came in were cowboys and basically destroyed the place. Luckily it is getting knocked down next year! Viglen admitted the fault and did minimal to correct this. All of our whiteboards were condemned by health and safety a week after they were installed due to dangerous wiring.

 

Three yeears for a laptop that's being used in an educational environment is good. I wouldn't complain about that. I disagree, I think 3 years for laptops is a disgrace and 5 years is more appropriate. Yes I admit they will get knocked around but the reason these laptops are inoperable now is Viglen's incompetence when building them. I know how they made the mistake, because they buy chassis in and add the parts themselves, just their staff have not been told to change the mobo voltage to match the cpu therefore all cpu's are now damaged.

 

What does 'I swear down' mean? I didn't realise this was a local phrase, always thought it was common around the country. If you swear down it is a way of catching yourself before going into a rant or swearing. Usually it would be followed by a rant for example "I swear down that if I see you round here again I will...." Sorry for not being clear here.

I worked in a school that had Viglen kit and the customer support (on the very few occasions we needed it) was always excellent. The fact they didn't fix any of the problems above leads me to believe their support is terrible. I have had some good experiences with them but the bad outweigh the good many times over.

Perhaps he learned to be objective about all things. Nothing is ever always good, or bad. Maybe if you learn that too there will be hope for you yet. Is this forum not about 'Bad Experiences' sorry I will post about good experiences here.

 

I know people have good ad bad experiences and it is not normally the good that you hear about, it is almost always the bad, but I am new to the forum, saw the Viglen thread in Bad Experiences and thought I would post about mine, very sorry for being so negative. Perhaps I will be more upbeat when complaining in future!

 

...Also I did not realise this was such as old post as I got into reading it. Sorry for digging up the past!

[Guest richard]

Well I'm sorry to disagree with but I have been dealing with Viglen for 6 years and I have never jhad any problems with them whatsoever. I have found the quality of their hardware to be superb and their support to be first rate. They are always willing to listen to what you have say about their products and they will make changes where they are needed, which is more than I can say about some companies.

[starscream]

Well I am please some people have had good experiences. I am also please some people have had bad experiences as it is warming to know others have suffered similarly.

[CHR1S]

Three yeears for a laptop that's being used in an educational environment is good. I wouldn't complain about that. I disagree, I think 3 years for laptops is a disgrace and 5 years is more appropriate. Yes I admit they will get knocked around but the reason these laptops are inoperable now is Viglen's incompetence when building them. I know how they made the mistake, because they buy chassis in and add the parts themselves, just their staff have not been told to change the mobo voltage to match the cpu therefore all cpu's are now damaged.

 

I can understand your anger at a company that has given you problems but I cant understand the reasons for it?

3 years of overvoltage damaged the CPU? Surely it would fry it immediatly or have no effect at all? I run/have ran many CPUs over voltage to make them more stable albeit at higher clock speed and all this does is produce more heat; did you mean the chassis didnt have sufficient cooling?

Sorry to pick but I just found your comment curiouse.

[altecsole]

What were the wireless access points inferior to? Better wireless access points. One's that work. From day one our wireless network didn't work like I explained in my initial post. Viglen failed to fix it after 6 on site attempts and in the end they just shrugged their shoulders! Absolute disgrace if you ask me. They recommended us the kit to do the job and turns out we needed better kit. As you know, primary school money doesnt grow on trees so we can't just go and replace them with better kit. I have used cisco units in other schools and I must say they work flawlessly. The faulty kit is d-link. Even had d-link engineers out to look at them and they just gave in too. How much can you push something? It was becoming a full time job changing up account managers and tech support at viglen. They sacked 3 account managers in the space of 12 months, how can you get problems solved when thye do that.

 

Would that be the same problem that you detailed in http://www.edugeek.net/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=7617 where you say the fault was actually with the wireless network card drivers?

 

We also had our IWBs installed by Viglen who at the time didn't have enough staff to do the install so they subcontracted and the company who came in were cowboys and basically destroyed the place. Luckily it is getting knocked down next year! Viglen admitted the fault and did minimal to correct this. All of our whiteboards were condemned by health and safety a week after they were installed due to dangerous wiring.

 

A company the size of Viglen will always have to sub contract. I'm surprised they left you with no working whiteboards and dangerous wiring.

 

I worked in a school that had Viglen kit and the customer support (on the very few occasions we needed it) was always excellent. The fact they didn't fix any of the problems above leads me to believe their support is terrible. I have had some good experiences with them but the bad outweigh the good many times over.

Perhaps he learned to be objective about all things. Nothing is ever always good, or bad. Maybe if you learn that too there will be hope for you yet. Is this forum not about 'Bad Experiences' sorry I will post about good experiences here.

 

I know people have good ad bad experiences and it is not normally the good that you hear about, it is almost always the bad, but I am new to the forum, saw the Viglen thread in Bad Experiences and thought I would post about mine, very sorry for being so negative. Perhaps I will be more upbeat when complaining in future!

 

It's all about balance. It's very easy for someone to come on the Internet and write a list of bad things about a company. That can be very damaging to the company. Yes, we all want to be warned of bad experiences, but please try to keep it balanced. From reading your initial post it would seem that Viglen have never supplied you with anything that you were satisfied with. Is that the case? I'd be surprised if it were. It's always easy to knock the big boys but think carefully before you do it with such gusto.