The shared network, which was developed by Brighton based connectivity specialist Curve IT, has been deployed across four new developments in Islington, Bethnal Green, Greenwich and Maidenhead and is set to include a fifth Essential Living site in Swiss Cottage, which is currently under construction.

The project will enable Essential Living to deliver multiple services to both tenants renting its properties and to back-office staff managing those properties, via a single network installation.

The converged network solution will be used to provide reliable, superfast broadband access to residents while also supporting operational requirements including CCTV, door entry, access and alarm systems, and a shared building management system.

Work is also already underway to deliver electricity, water and heating metering across the network.

Curve IT delivered the network via a point-to-point connection, installing antennas and receivers on the buildings to achieve robust and reliable line of sight connections from property to property. By working with Essential Living early in the build-to-rent project stage, Curve IT was also able to save the firm from going out to separate mechanical and electrical (M&E) and cabling contractors for each of the properties.

From high-performance WiFi into individual flats, to alarm and CCTV systems, all are run from a single fibre and copper network, divided up into virtual subnetworks, or VLANs. This eliminates unnecessary duplication within and between the properties, and provides an efficient foundation for an array of smart building systems.

Essential Living focuses on delivering premium apartments in sought-after locations, with 24-hour on-site teams and exercise rooms. Delivering high-quality connectivity to residents, and ensuring seamless and effective back-office systems is essential to maintain this premium brand. Additionally, deploying a converged solution across all five sites can enable the seamless development of further services, such as Personal Area Networks which travel with tenants throughout buildings, as well as building-specific apps, in the future.

Ian Merrick at Essential Living said: “We pride ourselves on offering an excellent standard of living to our tenants, and really understanding their desire to be connected, both in terms of location and technology.

“Curve IT understood that from the outset, and proposed a cost-effective and highly scalable solution. It makes absolute sense for us to run all our connected functions, for tenants and staff alike, off the same converged network, and Curve IT has made that happen.”

Simon O’Hare at Curve IT added: “Build-to-rent firms have so much to gain from converged networks. They save a huge amount of money and complexity right from the beginning, by avoiding the need to deal with multiple contractors or unnecessary duplication. Then, they provide an outstanding platform for deplopying a wide array of smart building functions and  innovative tenant experiences – at precisely the rate that suits the operator.”

The post Essential Living launches converged network solution across London build to rent sites appeared first on Curve IT.

Yet despite this, a large number of UK businesses and organisations are still lagging behind when it comes to developing robust infrastructure and a reliable, secure, Wi-Fi service.

Many small businesses in particular still take the approach of contracting with wireless broadband Internet Service Providers (ISPs) whose packages are intended to be used by individual consumers.

There’s a number of issues with this approach. For starters, the internet speeds provided might not be up to the job. However, following investment in full fibre to the premise infrastructure across much of the UK, this is becoming less of an issue.

Difficulties are more likely to be encountered when it comes to the reliability of coverage within the business environment itself and challenges associated with achieving the tailored network configuration typically required by companies.

WiFi networks intended for the consumer usually focus on simple set-ups and the delivery of broadband to the door only, with little support for configuration.

In this blog, we look at some of the specific considerations needed when creating ‘business class’ networks.

The changing workspace and network requirements

The workplace was once much simpler. You had your desktop machine connected to the server, corporate network and the internet via an ethernet cable. People had laptops and they too had to be wired into the office cabling if you had any serious work to do. Then came Wi-Fi and broadband and you could use your laptop on a wireless network so long as you didn’t stray too far from the one wireless router. Now many offices have moved across to an all wireless set up. People must be able to take their connected device into a meeting room or another office without losing their session.

It’s not just the main office either. While the Wi-Fi there might be OK it’s often not where all the work goes on in modern organisations. People have informal meetings throughout a building, from the reception area to the dining room. With the trend to build open spaces into many new office developments people might also have meetings outside. An incomplete office Wi-Fi network will mean that people are restricted to formal meeting areas and this, in turn, can impact on productivity. For organisations with multiple branch offices, it is also important to keep Wi-Fi connectivity consistent across locations. All these elements should be considered when selecting WiFi services and contemplating set-up.

Network security is also another major area for consideration. Businesses are responsible for the network they provide and it’s important to prevent both staff and visitors from putting themselves at unnecessary risk by building a secure Wi-Fi network within your building or campus environment. Again, this requires specific considerations and configurations not typically provided as default by ISP packages intended for the consumer. It is also important when considering Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) users, whose devices may pose a greater security risk. Implementing an Identity and Access Management (IAM) policy for example, which limits the access certain users have, will help further boost security.

A ‘business class’ approach

The set-up of a WiFi network in a business environment requires significantly more thought than a home network. From considering reliability and coverage levels across a wider area to determining how the network itself is set-up requires careful management.

If you’re looking for support in developing a tailored WiFi network for your business contact the team here at Curve IT.

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