Cisco Meraki Networks Blog
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Cisco Meraki for Primary & Secondary Education
From Reception to Sixth Form and everything in between, the Cisco Meraki Cloud IT solution was built for the demands of modern schools
- High performing 802.11ac wireless access points are optimised for heavy classroom use and campus-wide deployments
- The Meraki solution provides complete end-to-end visibility and control over users of every age, devices, and applications
- Application management built in: block inappropriate sites, limit YouTube streaming, and prioritise educational apps
- Connect and manage every building or school within a trust with cloud managed UTM Security Appliances and Security Cameras
- The intuitive end-to-end Meraki solution is self-provisioning, selfoptimising, and self-healing, making it easy to deploy and manage without specialised training or dedicated staf
- Secure, manage, and troubleshoot mobile devices, Macs, and PCs from the cloud with Systems Manager mobility management
- The Meraki cloud architecture enables cost savings by eliminating hardware-based WiFi controllers and including all future firmware updates and feature releases, providing a future-proof solution
- Unified Dashboard provides visibility and control over the entire network deployment, regardless of size
- Zero-touch provisioning with limited or zero on-site IT allows staff to save countless hours
- 3G/4G failover and Layer 3 and 7 traffic shaping provides connectivity in challenging environments
- Scale and adapt the network by quickly deploying additional hardware as needed, creating learning spaces anywhere without complexity
- Deploy 802.11ac APs with 3x faster speeds to serve 100+ users each in areas of heavy use
- Control bandwidth with built-in QoS, Layer 7 traffic shaping rules, and per-port configurations
- Define access and permissions by age or user group by partitioning SSIDs and setting granular policies
- Keep mobile devices up to date by deploying applications and updates with a single click
- Prestigious English girls boarding school with students from around the globe requires reliable, mobilefriendly, and secure network
- Woldingham School replaced patchwork, end-of-life solution with Meraki wireless, security, switching, and EMM
- Data collection and deep visibility into network usage and connectivity, simplifies traditionally complex tasks
- As a boarding school, having reliable connectivity allows students to easily connect with family, share successes, and even stream video in real time
- EMM allows IT to easily manage devices, push updates remotely, and integrate tech into lessons
- Automatic alerts, future-proof updates, and per-user configurations have put control back into the hands of IT
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Provision new 1:1 or BYOD devices
- Enroll devices to Systems Manager at scale with Apple’s DEP without ever touching them
- Establish initial configurations, choose device setup process, or require install of the SM profile
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Prevent management removal
- Prevent users from removing the Systems Manager profile on supervised devices
- Remotely keep supervised devices up to date with the latest settings and deployed content
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Enforce settings & device restrictions
- Tag devices and create profiles based on department, class, or grade
- Enable access to WiFi and set restrictions (e.g. deny access to device features or content ratings)
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Ensure device security
- Enable web content filtering to prevent access to inappropriate content
- Establish a geofence perimeter that auto-applies settings at school and alerts when devices leave
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Deploy & keep applications up-to-date
- Purchase apps with VPP and use device tags for deployment (reclaim and reassign as needed)
- Silently push new apps to supervised devices without entering Apple IDs or passwords
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Teacher’s Assistant — supporting the digital classroom
- Collection of features ideal for education — exceptionally popular in primary school
- Teacher management interface, Classroom controls, Automated class material delivery, and Shared use devices
- Network-wide visibility and control
- No on-site controller hardware
- Automatic monitoring and alerts
- Seamless over-the-web upgrades
- Scales to networks of all sizes
Provide complete visibility and control without dedicated staff
Reduce management complexity
Effectively allocate resources
Woldingham School: Connecting students in and out of the classroom
“Cisco Meraki is the whole package and it just works. We’ve learned more about our network in the past month than we have over the past 8 years. The girls are coming in and saying thank you now – this is their home.” –Edd Rogers, IT Operations Manager, Woldingham School
The easiest way to supervise 1:1 and BYOD devices
Enrolling school or student-owned devices in a mobility management program is the first step towards reducing the burden on IT. Cisco Meraki Systems Manager provides a simple, yet powerful solution to create a reliable and secure network environment.
100% Cloud Managed IT Product Family
Wireless (MR): Supports 100+ users per AP for high density 1:1 classroom deployments and BYOD |
Security (MX): Feature rich security and networking, with up-to-date content filtering and AMP |
Switching (MS): Centrally managed Layer 3 Ethernet switches designed for reliability and performance |
EMM (SM): Cloud-based centralised management of iOS devices, Androids, Macs, PCs, and more |
Communications (MC): Simple to install and manage telephony for deployments of any size |
Security Cameras (MV): Standalone cameras with remote viewing, analytics, and motion control search |
Award Winning Cloud Management Architecture
Documentation:
Download the Cisco Meraki for Primary & Secondary Education Data Sheet (.PDF)