Case study: "Now everything works anytime, anywhere"

The existing Wi-Fi system dated from 2017, the network from 2010, and both urgently needed replacement. "For example, there were all kinds of cables crisscrossing the building, including the relatively slow cat5 capacity," says Jelle van Baggem, manager of Digitalisation & IT at Nimeto. This made the network unstable and led to many complaints from teachers and students about the poor wifi. "They should be able to just walk into a classroom and work, without any hassle." A customer story in SURF Magazine about MBO Utrecht put Van Baggem on the trail of the SURFwireless service: 'always problems with wifi, now no more'. "Exactly what I wanted too!"

Communication was essential

As project leader for this wifi-as-a-service (WaaS) project, SURF maintained close contact with Nimeto and implementation partners Wentzo and Limpid Blue. "SURF had the building measured and, based on drawings, drew up a best estimated guess together with network supplier Wentzo as to where walls, glass walls and pillars might interrupt the signal," says Van Baggem. "Limpid Blue then laid the cables and SURF carried out another measurement. Finally everything was connected, re-verified and fine-tuned. Communication was essential during construction: constantly fine-tuning, confirming agreements and continuing to monitor."

Flexible adaptation

As the renovation had to be done while the school remained open, the building was divided into four construction phases and tackled one section at a time. "In the remaining parts, the wifi therefore had to remain operational via the old system. Every day there was a new challenge: a room full of tables and chairs, which meant that access points could not be hung, a floor that was still wet, materials that were delivered late, dust everywhere because of the demolition work," Van Baggem outlines.

"SURF had to be enormously flexible with the renovation because sometimes schedules simply did not go as planned. Great that it succeeded and was finished on time." December 2022 saw the completion of the WaaS project, and April 2023 also saw the completion of the renovation. Just in time for the party in June for the entire Nimeto community, which Minister Dijkgraaf also attended. "To the surprise of the construction parties involved, the wifi was the first thing to be finished. Usually that is precisely what is delivered too late."

Going the extra mile

Nimeto now has a fast, reliable network. "Server room, access points, switches, cat6A UTP cables, everything has been replaced and even with a capacity of up to 10 Gbit. Furthermore, all cables are now identical, documented and neatly concealed in ducts. Thanks to drawings, we know exactly where they are and which port belongs to which socket," says Van Baggem, who is happy with SURF's service. "They think along with you and go the extra mile. Moreover, with SURFwireless, they continuously monitor whether the network continues to work properly."

Set for the next 10 years

With the new network, Nimeto can move forward for another ten years. "Lecturers can teach undisturbed. And students can work on two devices simultaneously via wifi with, for example, heavy creative Adobe cloud files. Our Service Desk no longer has to go to rooms all the time to solve problems but can invest time in the next improvement. Everything works anytime, anywhere, that's the direction we are currently heading," says a proud Van Baggem. "I now seriously get spontaneous compliments from teachers about the good wifi. Count on our department building up a lot of credits with this."

Text: Wilma Schreiber

Photos: Vera Duivenvoorden