Serving around 580 students and 142 staff, Sir William Perkins’s School has fully embedded 1:1 iPad usage into daily teaching. However, the school’s legacy wireless network struggled to cope with the rising density of devices, particularly when large groups connected simultaneously through Apple Classroom. Ensuring secure authentication, safeguarding compliance, and consistent performance across hundreds of devices became increasingly challenging – and other vendors were unable to meet the school’s strict technical requirements.
“We spoke to multiple providers, but none were able to implement the solution we envisioned. ANSecurity not only made it possible – they tested it, validated it, and delivered it flawlessly,” said the school’s IT Manager.
A Structured, Consultative Approach
Introduced by RUCKUS Networks, ANSecurity began by validating the school’s design requirements and conducting extensive lab testing to confirm compatibility with Jamf School’s certificate-based authentication and the school’s existing network architecture. A collaborative deployment plan followed, with a tight three-month schedule carefully aligned to the school holidays to avoid disruption.
ANSecurity then deployed RUCKUS Wi-Fi 7 access points and configured Cloudpath to seamlessly issue certificates to nearly 550 school-managed iPads – a capability other vendors could not match. Wi-Fi 7 provides dramatically higher throughput, lower latency, and improved efficiency thanks to technologies such as wider channels and multi-link operation, enabling fast, reliable connectivity even in dense device environments like classrooms.
To support safeguarding and compliance, ANSecurity integrated RADIUS and API-driven workflows to ensure accurate user-to-IP mapping across both the Palo Alto Networks next-generation firewall and the ContentKeeper filtering service. Additional networks were created for BYOD and guest access, with Opportunistic Wireless Encryption (OWE) used to protect traffic on open networks. ANSecurity also assisted in restructuring parts of the network, implementing new VLANs and applying updated firewall policies to ensure the right users and devices could securely access the right resources.
Following deployment, a detailed wireless site survey was carried out to confirm optimal signal strength, signal-to-noise ratio, and throughput across both indoor and key outdoor areas of the campus.
“The difference in consultative support compared to other vendors was night and day,” said the IT Manager.
A High-Performance, Future-Ready Outcome
The school now benefits from fast, stable, and secure Wi-Fi coverage across the entire campus. The new network reliably supports nearly 800 devices, with the majority operating seamlessly on 5 GHz, and is fully prepared for future upgrades, including WPA3 and 6 GHz Wi-Fi once supported by Jamf School. Integration with existing security solutions ensures all safeguarding, logging, and compliance requirements are met. Improvements to switching, segmentation, and overall network architecture have further enhanced performance and manageability.
Delivered within the agreed three-month window, the project positions Sir William Perkins’s School at the forefront of digital education. Wi-Fi 7 provides the performance headroom needed to support emerging educational technologies – from AR/VR learning to high-bandwidth cloud applications – ensuring the school remains ahead of future digital demands.
With upcoming initiatives including Cyber Essentials Plus certification, expanded security controls, and wired network access control, the relationship between the school and ANSecurity continues to deepen, built on trust, technical expertise, and a shared commitment to innovation.
