WiFi in the classroom: digitization for urban education in Wavre

Urban education in Wavre consists of a total of eight schools, a music academy and a fine arts academy, each with about 200 to 500 students. The Internet connection is not only used by teachers and administrative staff, but plays an increasingly important role during teaching activities. Thus, the WiFi network must have sufficient capacity for all devices. Moreover, coverage is also of great importance: when students and teachers move from one classroom to another, they must always remain connected to the Internet. Ten schools, with a mix of preschools, elementary school, secondary schools and after-school education: after all, that presents unique challenges.

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Addressing unique challenges? Our main quality at Citymesh!

One example: in the school buildings, for example, there are also three nurseries. This was taken into account during installation. Citymesh worked with teams that performed the cabling at night and cleaned up all the equipment in the morning. In this way, the inconvenience was kept to a minimum and the activities of the nursery could continue without any problems.

The first phase of the project consisted of a site survey. Citymesh’s team came on site to analyze the options to ensure each classroom had an excellent WiFi connection. In the next phase, plans regarding cabling and racks were drawn up. Interconnectivity was also taken into account, as most schools are interconnected via fiber. The next step was the actual installation. This involved using CAT6 cables and halogen-free cables, according to the Règlement général sur les installations électriques.

However, the floods that plagued Wallonia last summer threw a spanner in the works. The installation had just been completed when the floods occurred. However, Citymesh showed the necessary flexibility to act quickly. A lot had to be done: the racks were moved from the basement to the attic, and the switchboards and cabinets were replaced. More is planned in the future. For example, wall mounts are still being installed to connect the smart boards. Digitization in education does not stand still, and thanks to the high-performance WiFi network installed by Citymesh, they are ready for further digitization using new teaching methods and equipment.

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