Hesselby Slott Castle powered by a robust wireless solution from D-Link

The total renovation requirement facing the new owners was considerable, and they wanted to get the most of out every Swedish krona invested.

Hesselby Slott Castle powered by a robust wireless solution from D-Link

The total renovation requirement facing the new owners was considerable, and they wanted to get the most of out every Swedish krona invested.

PDF herunterladen

Requirement

Modern conference facilities nowadays demand a wireless solution for guests who want to use computers, tablet PCs and smartphones
in connection with conferences and accommodation. The total renovation requirement facing the new owners was considerable, and they
therefore wanted to get the most of out every Swedish krona invested. Hesselby Slott wanted the wireless network to cover all rooms in all buildings, and for guests to be able to move between the different buildings and rooms without losing their Internet access on a tablet PC or computer. The biggest challenge in setting up wireless access in the castle was the building’s listed status, which means there are a number of restrictions on external modifications to the buildings. Nor did they want to lay cables between the buildings, but preferred wireless links. Furthermore, the castle consists of a number of thick stone walls, which make it difficult for the wi-fi signals to reach everywhere. Another challenge involved capacity and redundancy. At the same time there was a requirement that the whole network should work smoothly, be managed from one place and have the capacity and facility for the simple expansion of the wireless network in line with the castle’s expansion.

D-Link’s Solution

Together with the reseller Data-PC Service, D-Link delivered a total solution with 36 (47) wireless access points, wireless links between buildings, antennas, switches, a firewall and a central web-based administration. The castle’s incoming fibre access was divided
into two networks: an internal network and an external guest network for conference guests. The guest network was in turn divided into a number of different virtual LANs in order to load-balance capacity and enhance security. The 36 access points that were installed can handle 802.11n with dual-band and are discreetly coloured, white or grey, in order that they are not visible in the listed environment. The solution to achieve total wireless coverage was to locate the access points strategically on the castle buildings, such as in the two towers in the wings, and to supplement them with external antennas. Most of the access points installed at the castle
have 802.11n Dual-Band and Power over Ethernet. Dual-Band technology provides two frequencies and can provide wireless speeds upto 2 x 300 Mbps. 

“We liked D-Link’s concept of a total solution in which we have one contact, one support number and one place where the whole solution is managed. We also liked the way the access points and antennas were discreet, while at the same time everything worked really well together and there was a high level of security.”
Kent Sandelius,
Hesselby Slott.