Resources

Queen Mary
University of London

Nestled in London’s East End is Queen Mary University of London – one of the UK’s prestigious Russell Group universities. It serves more than 31,000 students and around 5,700 staff members. Plus, its research quality is ranked 14th in the world.

However, despite its world leading status, Queen Mary’s wireless network began to fall behind.
Digital teams, staff, researchers, and students were facing various connectivity-related issues – a hinderance brought to the fore by a campaign from the Student Union President. Things had to change. So, in 2024, Block was tasked with delivering a cutting-edge wireless upgrade, with only the short summer break to complete the bulk of the job.

Was it possible to securely deploy an improved wireless network
across campus in just eight weeks?

The catalyst

A call for change

It was a manifesto from the Student Union President that said students deserve better wi-fi. The existing network was installed in 2013 and was no longer able to keep up with current user demands; let alone deliver the university’s 2030 strategy to provide cohesive digital and physical infrastructure.

“Our staff and students require access to modern, efficient, and reliable platforms to maximise the value of their teaching, learning, and research activities. It was part of the previous Student Union President’s manifesto to improve wi-fi across the campus.

We listened. We heard. And we made the change.”

Melissa-Jane Olivier,
IT Programme Manager at Queen Mary

Building pressure

UK universities have a strong reputation of delivering forward thinking research and top tier degree courses. However, the education landscape has changed, propelled by increased tech consumption, and now many institutions need to increase the capabilities of their network if they’re to keep up.

Key drivers for wireless network transformation are:

Easier, better, faster service
Robust security
Cloud-first strategy
Mobile and remote access
Adoption of new technology

Choosing the tech

Embarking
with Block

Queen Mary University London made the decision to transition its wireless network to Juniper Mist AI™. A key attraction was Marvis, Juniper’s Virtual Network Assistant – its advanced heatmapping capabilities meant the team had to carry out less of the expensive, manual site surveys. As a result, the university chose to partner with Block which had established expertise in Juniper Mist AI™, so could get to work quickly.

“We conducted a competitive tender, assessing solutions from Cisco, Aruba, and Juniper against rigorous criteria. Juniper emerged as the lead, offering innovative AI-driven capabilities and cost-effective solutions.”

Shahid Rashid,
Assistant Director at Queen Mary

A FutureNow Network

Block’s service management processes enable full integration of Juniper Mist AI™, which includes Marvis (the virtual network assistant that the Queen Mary team were keen to use).

Marvis applies machine learning algorithms and neural networks to remotely diagnose and mitigate issues such as:

Bad cables
Missing VLANs
Negotiation mismatches
Spanning Tree misconfigurations

The Big Challenge

The need
for speed

Queen Mary had to ensure its network update wouldn’t disrupt term time. This gave Block a small, eight–week window to deploy its Wi-Fi 6E combined with Juniper Mist AI™ across the majority of the 2,200 access points, many of which were located in listed buildings or high security laboratories. From the start, specialised care and an efficient approach were crucial to achieve the deadline, so the Block team pre-configured access points and maintained detailed project mapping throughout.

Working to an unmovable deadline doubled-downed on the need to establish a strong and collaborative working approach between Block and Queen Mary. Despite it being a new relationship, trust between the two had to be established quickly.

“We faced an aggressive schedule due to delays in contract finalisation, but the end date for implementation couldn’t shift. Block’s ability to adapt and scale their resources was critical,” says Mike Wearden, Head of Network and Unified Communications at Queen Mary.

“The summer months provided a narrow window for installation, and we had to ensure minimal disruption to university operations,” confirms Ian Webster, Project Manager at Queen Mary. “Early morning starts and efficient scheduling were key.”

Project scale

6 Sites
2 Countries
2,200 Access Points
65 Buildings
8 weeks critical work
28 weeks specialised

End user impact

An experience
uptick

With the project completed on time, Queen Mary’s new school year started with stable and secure high-speed wi-fi which better supported video calls, online learning, and the university’s renowned research programmes. The advantages were also felt beyond the classroom, with students settling into their new halls of residence with a ‘home-from-home’ experience, allowing them to connect their personal devices, like games consoles and TVs, to the network with ease.

A noticeable difference

The students at Queen Mary were really the changemakers in kick-starting this network transformation. With many students living on campus, as well as studying there, the university’s partnership with Block had the potential to make a difference to quality of life beyond the learning experience.

Since the academic year started, students and staff have been able to use their devices with seamless connectivity, which has eliminated the frustrations that many first raised through the Student Union President.

“For many students, this is their first time living away from home. Providing a reliable and familiar digital environment helps ease the transition and supports both academic and personal wellbeing.”

Mike Wearden,
Head of Network and Unified Communications at Queen Mary

The statistics

1000+ devices connected across high density lecture halls without issues
10+ labs supported with high security connectivity
1500+ student beds equipped with ‘home-from-home’ connectivity
99% compatibility with personal devices including games consoles and smart TVs

“The network’s stability allows us to explore innovative data capture methods, enhancing our research capabilities.”

Thomas King,
Research Assistant Director at Queen Mary

at the IT helm

Significant time reductions

The advantages of the network update were also felt by the IT team. Juniper’s Mist AI™ Marvis tool enabled team members to identify and resolve issues proactively, which simplified the process and reduced workload.

Meanwhile, the network’s real-time analytics provided insight into user behaviour and system performance, which has laid the foundations for achieving future energy management, asset tracking, and security goals.

Operator experience

Networking and security can often cause university IT teams to work with unnecessary complexities. Bypassing these difficulties by implementing a simplified process is a core focus of Block and Juniper Networks partnership.

The efficiencies gained through this approach result in a better operating experience for IT teams on the ground.

Advantages include:

AI-automation to reduce mistakes
Fewer tickets for the service desk
Faster Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR)
AI-Driven operation for proactive support and root cause analysis

Successful project completion

No regrets

Queen Mary’s unique environment combined with a strict timeline held the potential to cause major deployment issues. However, Block and the Queen Mary teams were able to plan and execute the job without delay by fostering close collaboration, particularly when it came to flexibility and responsiveness

It’s a result both teams agree has fostered a partnership of trust and paved the way for potentially more projects in the future.

What does Queen Mary University London say about Block?

“Having Block handle the heavy lifting, from logistical arrangements to detailed floor plans, allowed us to focus on other critical aspects of the project.”

Jamie Logan-Mann,
Network and Unified Communications Officer

“Block’s commitment to understanding and addressing our unique challenges turned a daunting project into a seamless operation. This sets a benchmark for how external partnerships should function.”

Melissa-Jane Olivier,
IT Programme Manager

“This wasn’t just a service delivery. Block worked alongside us as true partners, adapting their processes to fit our needs and maintaining open communication throughout. Block understood our risk appetite and tailored their workflows to ensure success within our time constraints.”

Mike Wearden,
Head of Network and Unified Communications