Broadband provider . . Thinking of leaving BGFL for internet

[ToyHeartsFan]

http://www.link2ict.org/serviceguide

 

Intresting document and it confirms the points I made in my first post about opening a can of worms if someone changes ISP although I'm not sure what the ISP charges refer to as it says 5.5k for primary and 8.2k for secondary compared against 13.5k for a leased line (with less services) from someone else. We are paying something in the region of 6k for 10Mb connections and I have recently been quoted 18.5k to upgrade the connection to 100Mb next financial year so I don't know where 5.5/8.2k figures quoted come from if it was only 8.2k for a 100Mb connection then I think we would all have upgraded already.

 

I understand that link2ict are currently unable to offer say 30 / 50Mb connections but they did say several times in the past that they were exploring the possability. The problem is a bill for 18.5k is hard to swallow but 10Mb is starting to struggle and my primary concern is that with online MIS systems in the pipeline that admin traffic will be competing with curric traffic and it could directly impact on the ability of our admin staff to do their job.

[chippo]

We were the first school to go in Birmingham, Jervoise School. 1 year on still happy, having some issues this year ref VPN to bgfl but that's due to more schools moving away from grid in my opinion. A solution will be found & we are now looking at moving more services away from the city.

[ICTRambling]

We were the first school to go in Birmingham, Jervoise School. 1 year on still happy, having some issues this year ref VPN to bgfl but that's due to more schools moving away from grid in my opinion. A solution will be found & we are now looking at moving more services away from the city.

 

Can I just remind schools to check with the city about data transfer arrangements as VPN will not be available and it is causing problems in a couple of schools.

[plexer]

Can I just remind schools to check with the city about data transfer arrangements as VPN will not be available and it is causing problems in a couple of schools.

 

There should be alternatives available as otherwise schools are being held hostage or unfairly restricted from seeking alternative connections.

 

Ben

[alan-d]

That is one of the problems with Link2ICT\BGfL they only offer an all or nothing package for essential services such as the secure data transfer. It also goes further with AV and their core services in that you have to use them as an ISP or lose the package altogether.

 

Link2ICT are very slow at waking up to the realities of business, they either offer flexible packages or go bust as they watch their business fade away.

 

I may be wrong here but I think we can purchase ISP or other services from neighboring LEA ISP providers which may help.

[ICTRambling]

There should be alternatives available as otherwise schools are being held hostage or unfairly restricted from seeking alternative connections.

 

Ben

There are free alternatives such as the S2S web site I posted earlier and I also understand that the authority policies allow the use of e-mail to transfer data (with appropriate security) and there may well be other options that the authority support. The Data Protection lead for the city can advice further on this (Bham schools can e-mail my work account for his contact details if the school don't already have them) and we are currently working with some schools and the authority to look at which option will work best for them.

 

What we haven't currently got is a supported solution for external schools to automatically transfer data securely to/from the local authority, obviously we are working on this to see what additional services we could provide to schools. However, as a provider to the local authority we have contractual and policy obligations that we need to comply with - the current (historic) VPN service is provided to allow staff to securely connect from home into the school network and when this was originally designed as a service it was signed of by the local authority and audit as complying with all the current regulations.

 

When we introduce a new service it will need to go through a similar process.

 

While the connectivity option may not be the cheapest available, part of the additional cost or value added is that it will give you automated data transfer to /from the city amongst other things.

[chippo]

Working with schools? More like against

[ICTRambling]

Working with schools? More like against

 

Care to elaborate?

[chippo]

Sorry I won't be elaborating as I think this may have legal implications & is being taken to higher levels. I will say this many Birmingham schools are un-happy with Link2ICT & their reaction to schools finding best value alternatives.

[zag]

Sorry I won't be elaborating as I think this may have legal implications & is being taken to higher levels. I will say this many Birmingham schools are un-happy with Link2ICT & their reaction to schools finding best value alternatives.

 

We had the same reaction when we started looking for alternatives to SEGFL last year. In the end we just said we were leaving and got rid of it.

 

Best decision we made in a long time. We now get twice as good a service for half the price.

[eshaq786]

We moved to EXA Networks last year with no real issues, you will need VPN connection to access the BGFL for FCS, CRISP, Knowledgebase,Zimbra admin,Policy Central etc..

We still use Link2ICT for remote support, service desk, MIS.

EXA have a special deal with ESET so your AV is also cheaper over 3 years.

We had a demo of Progresso on our connection & the person giving it commented how quick it was compared to the BGfL.

The filtering is easy to use & comes in the cost. There's obviously top level filtering & you can then add sites to the "White/Black List" as you require.

 

You will have scare tatics from Link2ICT but I can honestly say we've had no problems at all.

 

Hi Chippo

 

Not sure if you will read this but can you possibly PM me with your details so that I can speak to you. We are a primary school looking to go with exanet and i just want to find out the exact process that you went through as well as see the VPN solution for FCS and CRISP.

 

Many thanks.

[levell3r]

Hi Chippo

 

Not sure if you will read this but can you possibly PM me with your details so that I can speak to you. We are a primary school looking to go with exanet and i just want to find out the exact process that you went through as well as see the VPN solution for FCS and CRISP.

 

Many thanks.

 

Do you source a solution in the end? What was the outcome?