Internet Connectivity and LGfL Support 

There are a lot of ways to get a connection to the internet, some good, some better, but it’s important that you know what you do and don’t get with your connection.

Service Level Agreements (SLA)

When reviewing internet connectivity providers for schools, there are two important areas of the Service Level Agreement (SLA) you should understand clearly. Firstly, the quality, uptime guarantees, contention, bandwidth etc. Schools need high quality services to support classrooms full of computers all doing the same thing at the same time, don’t underestimate the importance of this in your decision-making process.

Secondly, find out how effective the supplier's support service is- how proactive are they at supporting their customers when a problem occurs, and how quickly are problems resolved? Most internet connections are good when they are working - it is when they stop working, and you have to rely on the supplier to get you back up and running that the real service begins.

School Internet Security and Safeguarding

Security is a key area you should address before connecting anything to the internet. A High-speed connection is all well and good- but if you don’t have a secure system in place, you are leaving your school and data exposed to cybercriminals. Suppliers like LGfL provide a fully secure and firewalled service, you can plug it in and start using it with the confidence and knowledge that firewalls, safeguarding and data security have all been considered and a generous baseline of safe and good practices are already in place.

Other suppliers may provide you a high-quality internet connection that is just that- a superfast and highly reliable internet connection. If you opt for an option like this, you will have to manage your own security and firewall to ensure the internet is open to your school and not vice versa.

Of course, there are also several suppliers providing services that sit somewhere in between the above. Just ensure when you are looking for internet, you compare apples with apples. A cheaper connection that requires you to purchase, manage and maintain a separate firewall, may not work out as cheap in the long run.

School Email Systems and Cloud Platforms

Email remains an essential communication tool for schools and MATs.

If your school already uses cloud platforms such as Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, you likely already have access to secure and reliable email services.

However, if your school still relies on your ISP’s email system, it is important to ensure the service is dependable and secure. We strongly recommend considering dedicated cloud-based email platforms such as Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.

Changing internet providers can become significantly more complicated when your school’s email system is tied directly to the ISP.

Educational Content and Learning Resources

This is not unique to LGfL, but it’s fair to say no other UK service provider puts as much time, effort or money into procuring and creating market leading on-line education content. There is a lot of content available on the internet, and not everything is for everyone. But consider what you use, what you like and what you might be able to get access to via your ISP

Additional Value-Added Services

Check out what else you may get through your internet service contract; this may be some of the services mentioned above or perhaps the supplier has a partnership with other education services, and you can recognise value across multiple areas.

We don’t intend to sound like a broken record, but LGfL bundles a vast array of value-add services into their subscription including site wide Anti-Virus, MDM (Mobile Device Management) licences, Adobe subscriptions and many more. Some of these services are free and others are vastly discounted. So before making any final decisions, just make sure you consider the full value of your service.