SchoolsBroadband

perhaps also try statically set DNS on a client machine to be 8.8.8.8 or 1.1.1.1 (don't put in a secondary when testing) and see if that works. If DNS resolutions work fine then you know there's an issue elsewhere and not with connectivity from a client to the internet. Another possibility could be that your server has been hacked and is itself DDoSing destinations on the Internet with a flood of DNS requests. You could be able to see on your firewall how many DNS requests are coming from your server to the general Internet. If its in the thousands then that could be an issue. Thanks Dave

can you constantly ping your server and also the Google DNS servers from your server? If you drop a number of pings that could have an impact. Dave

I suspect you're probably right that it is dns. I have heard of a specific provider (no names mentioned) that has had some large ddos issues of late as per @psydii comment. Definitley check your dns preferences and if you are using any forwarders or if there different over your network (we have sometimes seen some clients using statically set dns for historic reasons where as new are via dhcp. Good luck. Dave

did you get to the bottom of it in the end?

Hi @Garacesh If you contact the support department they'll be able to help I'm sure. We've also got a new reporting engine to be launched in the next few months so watch this space for that too. Dave

We fully support Azure AD so the answer should be yes. If you send me a PM I can get one of the engineers to give you a call to discuss if you like? Thanks Dave

Yes we do. If you call the sales team on 0 11 33 222 333 they'll let you know the costs. We also now support 5G as well. No CGNAT. We terminate our connections from Three via L2TP. We can also put the sims behind our hosted netsweeper and / or Fortigate products too. Thanks Dave

Hello. We do these and we can also give you a static ip too if need be. Do send me a PM if its of interest. Dave

It can be possible for adsl to out perform vdsl / fttc if the line length from the vdsl / fttc cabinet is very long. Vdsl losses its speed quicker as an average than adsl does but vdsl has cabinet's which are generally closer to each customer and therefore normally out performs adsl but there can be exceptions. Use https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL to give you an idea of what speeds should be possible. Sometimes though the checker is wrong as ive seen premises connected via a different cabinet for example which is further away. Your isp should be able to find out if the cabinet you've been provisioned on is the same one as the checker. Also on your modem check the vdsl sync rate but also ask your isp for the BRAS profile. The vdsl sync rate is maximum speed before overheads. The BRAS profile is the speed profile the vdsl / fttc line will run at. Sometimes something called an SNR reset (which thr isp can initiate via BT) can reset the line and force the profiles to change. Hope that's a bit helpful. Dave

You don't actually have to activate the line from the date its installed. If you wanted to you could carry on using your current provider and change technology when suits you. Pricing is dependent on the provider. Some include filtering, security etc and everything you need for a school. Other such as BT retail will just give you a normal business or even residential service on it so prices will vary wildly depending o what's included. I'd be happy to chat through it with you if you'd be kind enough to send me a PM? Thanks Dave

Starlink is great. Works fine for some classrooms. We normally see around 250Mbps download and 30Mbps upload. Dave

Hi @TriggerHappyUK, we'll no doubt look after at least a few schools in Dorset as we look after broadband, filtering and security services for over 2,000 schools around England. We generally offer cloud-based service around Fortinets award winning security and Netsweeper education specific filtering. We'd be more than happy to give you a no obligations quote and I'm sure we'll be more than competitive too Feel free to send me a PM and I'll happily have a school or two as a reference site if you like as well. Thanks Dave

yes. that means that a fibre provider will be delivering their FTTP service using their own money rather than being part of the DFE subsidised rollout. Best using "town name + FTTP" into google often comes up with some results. Dave

Got their in the end well done

EoFTTC comes with a higher SLA than SOGEA and also with some guaranteed speed element. Its also handed off to ISPs as Ethernet rather than L2TP so we can runs VLANs over the connection which is helpful when your ISP has cloud based services to extend your LAN into (such as our hosted FortiGate firewall solutions) SoGEA simply removes the voice element from the underlying copper service so its slightly cheaper than buying a WLR3 Pstn / Analogue line and then putting FTTC on top of it. SoGEA has been created to help with the big PSTN switch off so customers not able to get FTTP can still get broadband via copper. Hope that helps but happy to embellish further if required. Dave

Lee hit the nail on the head with his response. I sit on the steering group for broadband standards by the DFE and the outcome of that is for primary schools to have FTTP when available. See https://www.gov.uk/guidance/meeting-digital-and-technology-standards-in-schools-and-colleges/broadband-internet-standards-for-schools-and-colleges#:~:text=Primary%20schools%20should%20have%20a,1Gbps%20download%20and%20upload%20speed. for the output of that There's a huge push by the DFE and DCMS to get all primary schools connected to FTTP by 2025. If you'd like me to check when FTTP will be available or if your school is on the new RM6095 DPS procurement, then do send me a PM and I'll check it out and give you some options available. Thanks Dave

Hi @cardinaldbw looks like you are maxing your line out from the graphs i've seen which will be why the Internet feels slow and you think you've got speed issues. If you give you friendly account manager Helena Brook a call on the office she'll get the stats, go over them and suggest what to do going forward. I've asked her to get in touch with you directly too. Thanks Dave

Hi Dave, we've had no general network issues. I believe this was specific to your line and an issue with Virgin Media equipment. Thanks Dave

Draytek routers will do the trick. A Fortinet firewall will allow application based routing policies over different WAN links and will also allow the failing over of traffic from one to another in event of failure too. Its more advanced than the Draytek but a Draytek will probably do what you need and will be at least half the price with no ongoing licensing costs. Dave

actually i'm not allowed to distribute the docs. You need to be on RM6095 (which we are) to be able to get the RFI. But if you want to email me if you're school is on it I think that would probably be ok Please note the list may still change and is dependent on the procurement going through and being awarded. Thanks Dave

I'd post the list on here but its 169,961 characters long and the max allowed is only 15,000!

Hi. Just send me a PM on here and I'll send over my contact details. Thanks Dave

ah yes but switch to switch is a cross over cable. Just like a laptop to laptop is cross over. So if you have a switch and your ISP has a switch also then you may need a cross over cable rather than a normal patch cable. Check if you get a link light briefly. If you do then that rules out cable type. If you get no light at all then it could be the cable. Dave

The RFI to then go to ITT are currently going via DPS on CCS RM6095. If memory serves me correctly there are 14 lots which are for different geographic areas and each one will be taken by an individual carrier. £110million up for grabs I believe. I've got the full list of schools to be connected by it if anyone is interested.... Thanks Dave

At both ends? Also one of the switches isn't super old is it and therefore you could need a cross over cable rather than a normal network cable!?