Currently, many schools are still equipped with an outdated network infrastructure that prevents them from having adequate connectivity for teachers and students to work in their day to day satisfactorily. This situation prevents both of them from simultaneously accessing information that is of interest to them for their tasks or from simply maintaining quality videoconferences, a key fact for much-needed online teaching.

Wi-Fi 6, a protocol with enormous benefits

One solution for these centers is to implement the new Wi-Fi 6 wireless technology, the latest data transmission protocol developed to date and officially approved last year. The speed and efficiency of a Wi-Fi 6 connection allows schools to enjoy many benefits:

• Higher speed. Wi-Fi 6 offers speeds of up to 11,000 Mbps, multiplying the transmission speed of a conventional wired network by 10.

• Greater power. New wireless technology raises the power when it comes to managing users connected to a device. This significantly multiplies its efficiency compared to its predecessor versions Wi-Fi 4 (11n) and Wi-Fi 5 (11ac), eliminates connection latency and organizes data packet management more efficiently.

• Greater and better coverage. As the bandwidth of the Internet connection is greater, the quality of videoconferences between teachers and students is better and manages to avoid uncomfortable video or audio cuts during connections. This standard incorporates, in this sense, the BSS Coloring data packet ordering system that allows grouping the data corresponding to video, audio or navigation… making more efficient deliveries.

• Enhanced security. Wi-Fi 6 integrates the WPA3 encryption system, the new standard that guarantees the inviolability of Wi-Fi passwords, unlike its predecessor WPA2, considered already insecure.

• Greater interaction. It opens a new world in wireless communications in terms of fluidity, stability, efficiency and optimization of scenarios, as well as a way of understanding collaborative experiences, since the number of teachers and students that interact is much higher. This point is especially important in educational centers, where in addition to the teacher, 20 or 30 students can be connected with absolute dependence on the Wi-Fi network.

The first public educational center to implement it

In Spain, the José Nogué Art School (Jaén) has become the first public educational center to install Wi-Fi 6. For this, it has relied on the equipment and solutions of the company EnGenius, a specialist in connectivity solutions .

More than 500 national and international students study Baccalaureate at this center, which also teaches intermediate and higher level training cycles and higher artistic teachings in the specialty of Graphic Design. Thus, and in a situation like the current one, students and teachers face the challenge of online training, a scenario that requires guaranteeing the best connectivity.

In this regard, the center has taken advantage of the wired structure it already had and to create a wireless network it has installed 19 EnGenius EWS357 access points : these devices have been specially designed for the education sector and are characterized by their fast and intuitive installation. In addition, the technologies they integrate increase the efficiency of the existing network and connect more devices without affecting speed.

To carry out this task, EnGenius has turned to the integrator Soluciones TIC Jaén who, through the solutions provider Ecom Spain, did an outstanding job in a short time. For the manufacturer, education is one of the sectors with the greatest strategic importance. As Jesús Yanes, Iberia Business Development Manager at EnGenius, states:

“We are aware of the importance of wireless networks in the day-to-day running of an educational center, because teachers and students constantly depend on the stability and robustness of the network. Most already have a sufficient wired structure, capable of supporting adaptation to the new WiFi 6 technology with just a replacement of their access points. Therefore, it makes no sense to implement expired technologies that do not offer the same level of service and security ”.

For his part, Manuel Ramón Molina, deputy director of the José Nogué center, adds:

“The adoption of this new technology represents a very important improvement in our connectivity that all users have valued from the first moment. The transformation has been frankly fast and has not meant any loss of connection or disruption in our teaching routines. All this at a very competitive cost ”.