Wave9_Lee

Hi Brave_heart, we'd be happy to quote for you - we often deploy our Sophos platform with cut down licence that provides combined router and firewall functionality. The web filtering and other features can be added later if needed. regards Lee

As Sophos' fastest growing education partner, I'm pretty sure we will be able to beat most quotes. Try us out, you've nothing to lose. cheers Lee

We don't offer residential services, but many of the schools that use our hosted voice service can allow staff to take the handset/subscription home and use their home broadband. In addition a softphone client can be added to IOS or Android smartphones. We offer inclusive minutes too, cheers Lee

I'd be happy to quote for SIP or hosted voice. We could get you up and running within days if needed. regards Lee

Personally I would go with an on premise UTM. You are in total control of your environment, able to adapt to any changes in your infrastructure or external factors. With the right support, you don't need to be an expert on the config, but can have the best of both worlds. On-premise UTM (IMO) will always offer a more extensive, flexible and customisable experience. In addition, should you wish, you're not tied to the same provider for both your internet connection and web filtering/security platform. regards Lee

You might want to also consider Sophos - good filter & Firewall, good pricing.

In my experience it's resellers who have a habit of underspeccing, generally to meet a budget number. It's in Sophos' interests for you to choose the right size appliance to ensure that you have a good experience. If your device/user count increases, or you start to use additional features, you might find that the appliance will start to slow down. Better to bite the bullet upfront and plan for growth in my mind - 3 years is a long time to be stuck with an underpowered solution. cheers

Hi DCUK6, have you only had one quote? I'd be happy to look at some pricing for you. Being in a rural area can be an issue, but we have a lot of flexibilty in terms of carrier choice and technology used. kind regards Lee

Hi Braveheart, as mentioned EAD, strictly speaking is a short p2p circuit, sold by openreach to communications providers (who then sell it on to their customers) It's one component. They don't provide Internet in their own right, just connectivity. But you will find that the term 'EAD' is often used as a general one for leased lines by some companies as this is the underlying technology. You wouldn't be able to buy a true EAD circuit yourself. Terminology is quite a fluid thing! Leased line is also another general term that is often misused. Better to try to understand; is the ISP/reseller reputable? focussed on education any reference customers? Does the service provide Internet access? what is the contention? no usage limits? fixed IP? filtering included or extra? (what kind) and of course, price and term, If you'd like a price to compare (that fulfils the requirements above) let me know - I'd be happy to help, regards Lee

Appreciate you want some user experience rather than a 'reseller' perspective, but you could do worse than look at Sophos firewall. Vert extensive feature set, loads of control, good reporting and ability to upgrade to filtering etc. If you would like a trial, let me know, cheers Lee

Hi Gareth, as other others have said, with that amount of pupils and traffic profile, I would consider a leased line solution. Someone mentioned that a reseller might be a better option than direct with VM or BT and I would have to agree (although i would say that I guess) A reseller will take all the strain of project management during delivery and provide you with some onsite installation resource as well as support throughout the contract. There can be quite a lot of pain dealing with telcos, and you will find that a direct price is often higher than through a reseller. Resellers have access to the telco Wholesale team including engineers and project management, so should be able to give you a better service. With reference to VMB, desktop surveys show fibre as unavailable at your location, so some civils will be required. You probably have a BT tail installed (or have previously) as it's showing as 'on-net'. The VMB offer may be based on using a BT tail as this is quite often the case. You can get FttC @ approx 60Mbps down/15Mbps or a symmetrical 15Mbps EoFttC service. Given your increasing reliance on O365 and additional WIFI requirement, perhaps look at a load-balanced FttC and 100Mbps Leased Line? I'm curious why you need a second link for your WiFi, but 2 lines still make good sense.

Might be related to the Chrome V58 upgrade and trusted certificate issue doing the rounds? There are fixes for Sophos, smoothwall and others around if needed. What Gateway/filter are you using? regards Lee

Nice of Google to look after us all... Here's a link for the Sophos workaround, but likely to be a more permanent fix soon. We are working with our clients to make the changes needed where necessary https://community.sophos.com/products/unified-threat-management/f/general-discussion/91085/https-scanning-web-protection-ssl-error-err_cert_common_name_invalid/330113

Hi Liam Looks sensible, there are several options within this to look at - i.e. express route not really necessary, and a bit expensive currently, and there are arguments for on-prem/off-prem and hybrid. If you want a no obligation chat, let me know I can arrange this. regards Lee

Are you settled on these two options? If not, there are others out there that combine Firewall and Web-Filtering - i.e SOPHOS cheers Lee

You could look at Sophos. Firewall (SW) is free, and can be upgraded to include web filtering and other security modules.

PM'd @Mr_Jiminy

If considering all options, I'd be pleased to offer a Meraki option - in terms of value over the term, some recent changes mean that it now represents a compelling option - PM me for details and a quote cheers Lee

If considering all options, I'd be pleased to offer a Meraki option - in terms of value over the term, some recent changes mean that it now represents a compelling option - PM me for details and a quote cheers Lee

Hi, As the end of the year approaches and some schools might be lucky enough to have some spare budget I thought I'd let you know that we can currently offer some amazing deals on Meraki switches and wireless. If anyone is interested in some info or quotes, please PM me, call me or drop me an email, I think you'd be surprised. cheers Lee

@gpjy We'd be pleased to provide you with an alternative too Entrust. We're based in Staffordshire and have many local references. If you PM me your details, I can get a quote and some info over to you this afternoon, cheers Lee

Sophos have stated that their preferred UTM platform will be XG in the future, but won't stop developing and supporting UTM 9 for a long while. XG platform isn't 'fully polished' yet, so we're still recommending users go/stay with UTM for now.

Hi Stormborn15, By data cable, do you mean broadband provision? If so, yes, you could have a separate ISP feed into each school and have resilience in the event of a failure. If these are new build schools, it's better to think if this as soon as possible as if you would like a leased line, there's a bit of work to be done in advance, once you know what you want. There are plenty of configuration options for resilience, but in effect, the more resilience you have, the more it costs. One link into each school, that can failover is possible and a good compromise, but you'd need to have a detailed chat about how the local data networks are set up ref L3 routing and VLANs etc. The good thing is if these are new schools, you can design the LAN and downstream client config with the plan in mind. Alternatively for a simple life, dual FttC or leased line/Fttc Backup can be very cost effective these days.

Hi mavch, it was posted in the mobiles forum, but It's correct, it's no longer free. @Simcfc73 I can provide you with a Meraki system manager price no problem. PM'd you. regards Lee

Hi mavch, it was posted in the mobiles forum, but It's correct, it's no longer free. @Simcfc73 I can provide you with a Meraki system manager price no problem. PM'd you. regards Lee