With millions of students attending universities and colleges throughout the U.K. each year, educational institutions have struggled to connect student's mobile devices to their wired and wireless networks without interfering with network security or draining IT resources.
However, a solution has been found with Bradford Networks (News - Alert) and Khipu Networks. Both networks have provided more than 100 academic institutions with a secure process to access networks that both enhance network security and reduce the number of help desk calls.
One such institution that implemented the Bradford Network to connect its students to its wired network was The University of Nottingham. The Bradford network, through a dissolvable agent, checked devices to make sure they had up-to-date antivirus software and met the university's OS requirements. If the device passed the checks, it was automatically given access to residential and campus networks.
If it didn't pass the checks, the device was provided with limited Internet access until the problem was resolved.
"2013 was the quietest start of the school year that we've ever had thanks to Khipu Networks and Bradford Networks," said Darren Wheatcroft, senior systems development officer of IT services at the University of Nottingham. "The majority of our students successfully pre-registered their devices remotely before they even left their homes."
The University of Portsmouth has also utilized Bradford Networks to not only safety provide its students with Internet access, but to gain insight into what devices students are using to connect to the network and to be quickly informed if any problems arise, such as if antivirus software needs to be updated or if a student unplugs a university-owned networked device and uses the port for his or her own means.
"With Bradford Networks, we can immediately see what's going on, address the problem and ensure that users have secure access to the right networks based on who they are and what device they are using," said James Holland, network and security services manager at the University of Portsmouth.
Both Bradford Network and Khipu Networks are happy to assist colleges and universities with their services.
"Bradford Networks is recognized as the vendor of choice for universities, colleges and schools that are proactively embracing the evolving needs of [Bring Your Own Device], and we are proud to make the student mobile device onboarding process a non-issue across the U.K.," said Tom Murphy, CMO at Bradford Networks.
"We all know that students today simply can't live without connectivity, so we are very pleased to have helped these leading institutions provide their students with seamless and secure access to their campus' networks as soon as they arrive at their institutions," added Matt Ashman, cofounder and sales director of Khipu Networks.
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Edited by Braden Becker