SchoolsBroadband

you're right here @Fazza although many customers want to be able to keep the same real world IP address, use the same hosted applications e.g. filtering which are on the main ISP too. it really depends what the customer is wanting to achieve as there's pro's and conn's of both. Dave

We are restricted with what we can and can't do because of Lightspeed and how that functions in an ISP environment. Leased lines do break, carrier interconnects also break and we have customers backup lines work 100% ok in these scenarios all automatically back and forth until the leased line is fixed. The next solution released shortly will get around this problem if we've seen an issue with Lightspeed. Thanks Dave

@synaesthesia, we'll have Dark Fibre connectivity available at the end of the year. We are currently trialling this with BT Openreach and carrier partners. If you wanted to trial this for us then it's something we could probably do. I expect we'll be able to offer 10Gbit bearer connections nationwide very soon and it won't just be to where the smaller carriers (i.e City Fibre) has their network. it will be UK wide. We're working on the process for upgrading current customers lines from a BT EAD based circuit to true Dark fibre (take BT's equipment off it and putting ours on the end instead) and we'll announce this once it's been finalised. yes we've had some problems with hosted Lightspeed but not for the majority of customers plus we've a new solution just around the corner to resolve any previous issues. Again we're looking for beta testers for this too over the summer holidays. Ref the backup that doesn't sound right. I'll give you a call. Thanks Dave

Hi @nathan, yes there will be a cost which is likely to be on a per device basis just as other vendors are. That's all I can say for the moment so watch this space As always we're looking for beta testers of our new services so if its of interest do let me know. Thanks Dave

Hi @tj2419 we've one secondary school I can think of which is 100% Google apps and I think use a lot of Chrome Books too. Good news is that our Lightspeed product fully supports Google Auth so you'll have no problem filtering Chromebooks and reporting! Send me a PM mid-week and I'll ask my contact if he'll speak to you. I think he's on Edugeek but I'm not 100% sure. Dave

You can do quite a bit on the free licence but it won't integrate with a Fortigate or Forticlient EMS which gives you a central view for all of your Forticlient estate and allows you to manage it all from one interface. We are probably going to re-launch Forticlient very soon as its a really feature packed product and in our opinion when used in combination with our Fortigate firewalls adds a lot more value than just Sophos AV on its own for a similar price point. See https://www.fortinet.com/content/dam/fortinet/assets/data-sheets/FortiClient.pdf for quite a bit more information. Thanks Dave

Hi @snagrat I'm away on business at the moment but have just asked our product manager to take a look at this for you too. I'm not aware of a generic issue with the VPN software or with Forticlient (which does VPN and a whole host of other functionality too) when used in conjunction with Windows 10 but we'll get it checked out for you. Our product manager Rob is actually with Fortinet at the moment in France on NSE training so will ask them too. Thanks Dave

Hi @Brave_heart, EAD's come in two flavours from BT Openreach and are sold to Communication providers and ISP's. EAD stands for Ethernet Access Direct. EAD LA stands for Ethernet Access Direct Local Access. EAD allows two sites to be connected together (up to around 25km in length max distance) with a 10Mbit, 100Mbit, 1Gbit or 10Gbit) capable interface installed at each end. You can then run IP over these circuits. We often use them if a secondary school has lots of local primary schools and wants to build a WAN. an EAD LA circuit connects a site (e.g. a school) AND the local BT telephone exchange where an ISP will have their own LLU equipment. Nearly all BT Openreach based leased lines are configured using a EAD LA circuit. You can not use an EAD LA circuit for two sites where one isn't the BT local telephone exchange. For this you must use a full EAD. So the answer to the question is what are you looking to achieve? If all its just Internet access then any ISP will probably offer an EAD LA circuit (we would) as part of the solution. happy to have a chat with you if that'd help? Thanks Dave an E

PM'd....

it's something we have looked at but isn't on the priority list at the moment if I'm honest. I'd highly recommend all schools have their own WSUS server onsite as it'll really help with your bandwidth usage on patch tuesday, particularly if you're a large secondary school. We see some schools max out their own full 1Gbit leased lines for a bit when the patches all get downloaded directly to each PC and it's a big update. Dave

All you should need is a mitel compatible SIP service which we have. If you wish to let me know the model number I can let you know if its 100% compatible? We also have easy to follow setup instructions. No need to be mitel accredited. Dave - - - Updated - - - sure thing. PM on its way

it means that someone can use the DNS from that port and IP. Is your smoothwall setup to do DNS for your internal network? Have you allowed it to do so on your external WAN too? Dave

on that particular deal its a 5 year with install of £2,900. It also includes Lightspeed filtering, Fortinet firewall, all routers, DNS management, web hosting etc etc. See https://www.schoolsbroadband.co.uk/assets/Schools-Broadband-Package-Options-Brochure-Update1.pdf and you get everything in the platinum package. We can also do a 3 year deal with no install if required too. Thanks Dave

That does seem a little odd. The BT engineers (and especially contractors want to get the job done as quickly as they possibly can so they'll have deemed it to be that way. It's not the end of the world having the copper wires exposed as I've seen this with lots of DP's with the front just hanging off but its sounds like maybe the engineer didn't do a great job tidying up. Suggest you send a picture to our support department if you're unhappy with it and we can take it from there. Dave

Yes, our prices track our carriers. So when we get a small price decrease then we pass this on. This is only for new connections though, we are locked into the same contract term you are with us to our carriers and they don't give us discount on existing contracts unfortunately but that's the industry norm. Thanks Dave

Sure. This comes with Lightspeed content filtering which includes Windows AD, Google Auth, Radius and various other authentication services and full reporting. it's fully prevent compliant. You also get Fortinet firewalling and UTM too. Quite a few of our customers on here already use it. Thanks Dave

You'd be surprised @localzuk For the majority of the UK we offer 100Mbit 1:1 leased lines for £4,500pa including Lightspeed content filtering and Fortinet security with an install fee and have been for nearly 2 years. I do agree ref Draytek filtering though. Not good enough for a school in my opinion. Dave

Hello @BFish, being a Fortinet Gold partner in the UK I'm sure we're slightly biased but the Fortigates are great. If you want the type of advanced reporting your eluding to then I suggest purchasing either Fortianalyzer or Forticloud which allows you to store lots of logs and perform all sorts of analytics. Forticloud is pretty cost effective but doesn't have quite the functionality of Fortanalyzer. Still it depends what you want exactly. Also make sure you are using v5.4 FortiOS as that gives lots more information too. Thanks Dave

yes can you believe we are 10 years old?!!?!? The special 10 year anniversary deal was released yesterday. You can have DDI numbers from any local area code in the UK Dave

Using Virgin direct? The prices are a lot lower than that now! Dave

We hundreds of wholesale leased line connections with both Virgin Media and LLU Providers using BT Openreach fibre (BT Wholesale, Talk Talk, Vodafone etc). Once both services are in they are pretty damn reliable as you get what you pay for with leased lines. However we find everything around delivering Virgin Media much more difficult and cumbersome. Their billing is also an absolute nightmare and consistently wrong. We spend a fortune just getting them to fix their bills! With us managing the relationship with Virgin Media our customers never see those billing issues, but its something to bear in mind when choosing a supplier. If you'd like a quote from us we'd be happy to send one over. Good luck Dave

yes we have. We are a wholesale partner of Metronet. They are quite niche and we use them when a customer needs a connection very quickly or there are huge install charges for a leased line. If you'd like a quote then do let me know. We can put our hosted Lightspeed and Fortinet on top of their connections and we'd managed everything for you. Thanks Dave

Thanks very much @MatthewL . It's always lovely to hear positive feedback as on the whole good work doesn't get fed back, just the bad stuff. Can you kindly let me know the engineers details and I'll go see our support manager and the engineer in question too and say thanks to them personally? Cheers Dave

at the moment it only costs an ISP a touch over £1k to upgrade a line from a 100Mbit to a 1Gbit bearer if using BT Openreach fibre. So if you're saving £2kpa and 100Mbit is more than enough for the moment then. I'd recommend staying on the 100Mbit and upgrade when you need to. Make sure you get in writing from whichever ISP you decide to use how much the upgrade cost would be. PM me if I can help any further. Thanks Dave

is BGFL part of this or completely separate? Thanks Dave