Chaniel

Which Aruba switch did you try? I found the new Aruba 1930's have been pretty quiet for a 48 port PoE switch (JL686A), especially compared to the 48 Port switches I remember from 5+ years ago. We have a cabinet in a classroom and you can't really tell it's there anymore. The non-PoE versions (JL685A) are silent as they have no fans. I concur with others though, swapping the cabinet should be a fairly straightforward task for any networking contractor and would be the best option. Having any repetitive whine of tiny fans near your workspace would drive anyone insane...

I liked the Wii U but it was definitely lacking, I sold it many years ago to a guy who was going to put some custom firmware on it. I moved to a switch a few years ago, although while a Switch is better (comfort, screen quality, size etc) there are some software changes that still aren't a thing on the switch that kinda suck, things like folders for games etc. I'm waiting for my Steam deck at some point this year, hoping I can emulate a lot more on that!

I'd SSH in and run ethtool on the interfaces. ip link show This'll get you your interface names (e.g. ethA, ethB etc.) ethtool ethC This'll show you the details, for example Settings for ethC: Supported ports: [ TP ] Supported link modes: 10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full 100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full 1000baseT/Full Supports auto-negotiation: Yes Advertised link modes: 10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full 100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full 1000baseT/Full Advertised pause frame use: Symmetric Advertised auto-negotiation: Yes Speed: 1000Mb/s Duplex: Full Port: Twisted Pair PHYAD: 1 Transceiver: internal Auto-negotiation: on MDI-X: off Supports Wake-on: d Wake-on: d Current message level: 0x00000007 (7) drv probe link Link detected: yes

You turn on data retention in Vault (https://vault.google.com/retention) to ensure that data isn't deleted and is kept as required. In Google Workspace we never delete accounts and instead suspend them, if I was to delete them I'd make sure to transfer data to a generic account to ensure that data isn't lost. If I needed to get access to an old students files from Drive, I could either unsuspend the account and log in or I can use GAM to give myself access/transfer all their files and folders.

I really like the LockNCharge Carrier 30's with baskets. They're pricy (£1300-1400), but they're pretty bombproof. The baskets are really handy for deployment and anecdotally I've seen a lot less charging cable/power jack damage since moving to them, teachers can unplug the devices and then put a basket on a desk for students to distribute, rather than 30 kids crowding around a trolley and pulling at cables. All the power bricks sit at the bottom below some removeable plates which the baskets sit on, bit harsh on your back to set up the first time as you're leaning over the sides but not too bad.

Most things have been said - I definitely would not want to do BYOD (students bringing their own personal devices) and installing any form of software on there, especially not remote access software. I mean if you had a very robust policy that parents had to read and sign beforehand and run that past a legal team, then I'm sure it'd be fine... but no, way too much legal issues and I'm personally against it from a privacy point of view. In a BYOD deployment, the most that you can provide imo is a filtered internet connection and access to printing. With youtube - we allow it in Strict Restricted mode and it's been enabled for all users. I don't see the issue, if there is any inappropriate usage then it's down to teachers to manage really.

Everyone is saying about HDMI lengths but HDMI over Cat6 is a thing that works very well, think it should only be about £80 for a pair. Unifi G3 and a viewport is a nice and tidy solution though!

I had the same issue with the arms on the markus, they're too far forward so would bump into the desk as I scooted in. If you don't mind attempting a DIY job, I replaced them with some adjustable arms and it's been loads better - there was a semi-guide on reddit here. Otherwise I'd look at 24 hour office chairs like this, I might still buy something like that instead of the markus just for the full adjustability. I can't justify dropping a ton of money on something super expensive like a HermanMiller without being able to return it really

I just spent far too much money on a sim racing rig so I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a decent monitor and a VR headset.

Also, the ISO you used to image the device. On VLSC there is "English" and "English International". You need to use the English International one really, the "English" one is actually US English...

Our server room AC is set to 21C and we have a sensor in the rack to monitor ambient temp - alerts after it gets to 25C.

It should be absolutely fine on any interactive touchscreen, it'll be plug and play as long as the touchscreen is recognised by Windows!

Do Not Disturb settings for Outlook Mobile - that's one that I push regularly. A lot of staff have Outlook on their personal phones, it has built-in Do Not Disturb that you can specify to not alert out of work hours (that you specify) or weekends etc. I understand that staff will often want/need emails on their phones, but I push for them to turn that on so they don't get notified of emails at 8pm and feel inclined to do more work...

Yeah we have a stash of them, they're generally not cheap for the decent ones. You can get cheap ones like this AmazonBasics one but the viewing angle adjustment isn't as good as say, an expensive 3M one. Depending on how her monitor is placed, it might not even help (e.g. if she had a window behind her PC, a privacy filter won't help at all). You can also buy a really cheap monitor as the viewing angles on those are terrible

+1 for SchoolCloud The only issue we see is due to our data. For parent auth we use authentication based on parent data (so it matches based off Parent First Name & Surname and then Student Details). This needs to match exactly, so if a parent is entering their name a certain way but on our system it's different, it won't log them in. This is fairly simply fixed but it's the only recurring issue we have. You can change auth to a login code which is then distributed to parents but we don't do that.

This is a far different experience than what I've had for the past 8ish years (through multiple schools/companies). I ask for a quote, I get a quote, I order. I don't think my account manager has ever "hounded" me, the only marketing email I've had was during peak covid when they had stock of hand sanitiser etc. and no one else did

What are you defining as an IT Consumable..? For general goods; Amazon CPC CCS Media LambaTek has been good for odd bits and bobs (laptop spares etc.) Laptopsandspares has also been the same.

Yup I recommend this too. We used to use a generic password for our guest access but it would always find its way into student hands, either something like a member of staff telling a guest in earshot of a student, emailing it etc.

We have three; Main - School domain joined devices only BYOD - Student/Staff personal devices - 802.1x RADIUS Auth that gives access to internet. Staff personal devices don't get HTTPS inspection (no cert required), student devices do. We have very limited student devices on the WiFi so not really an issue there. Guest - Ruckus Guest Pass system (Individual passes for each guest, or group of guests), internet access only. No HTTPS inspection.

Veeam and N-Able (previously Solarwinds...) for off-site backups.

I would just like to add to this... It's more about the same core diameter than grade. Multi-mode OM2/OM3/OM4 are 50/125 (afaik) so are all interoperable but the same as with copper, you'll be limiting it by using a lower standard patch lead. Personally I just buy OM4 patch leads.

Precisely this I imagine after a few feature updates I'll upgrade my own PC to test things but I have no immediate plans.

I use two 24" 1440p 144hz monitors at home (wanting to upgrade to 3). I find 24" 1440P to be perfect for both gaming and office work, 27" is a little too much for me personally but I like the extra space as I can just pin windows to the sides very simply. Gives me a lot of flexibility. At work, I use 3 24" 1080p monitors. For some office staff, we've given them 27" 1440p monitors as the work they're doing with Bromcom is a lot easier with the higher resolution than at 1080p (e.g. Attendance actually shows the full week on the screen without having to Zoom out in chrome...)

We have a RISO GD7330 which replaced a RISO ComColor 7150 and it's been pretty good and the school are happy with it. It's an inkjet so quality is worse than a laser, but it's really not that bad and it prints FAST. For the majority of school printing, you don't need the quality to be impeccable as they're mostly going to be used internally and then get recycled... The RISO is inexpensive, service is good (4hrs) and it's easy to administer for us. Colour comes in at around £0.01p a print and Mono at £0.003p We have the RISO as our main bulk reprographics printer and then have laser printers distributed around the site for day-to-day or higher quality printing requirements.

Any video conferencing software that is already embedded in the school (e.g. Teams, Google Meet). Just screenshare the desktop. One of our pupils had that exact same setup when they were in junior school, they were supplied an iPad and their teacher just screen shared with them.