Case Study: Blackpool and The Fylde College achieves secure, self‑service campus Wi‑Fi and rapid Chromebook rollout with RUCKUS Networks' Cloudpath Enrollment System

Blackpool and The Fylde College - Customer Case Study

Blackpool and The Fylde College (B&FC), a large further-education college in Blackpool with four campuses and 22,000 students, faced an aging wireless setup that caused patchy connectivity, frequent re‑authentication (10–20 times a day) and heavy IT overhead—staff were spending up to 10 hours a week creating temporary accounts and relying on an insecure WPA2 pre-shared key. The college needed a simpler, more secure way to support digital learning and a planned Chromebook rollout.

B&FC implemented the Cloudpath Enrollment System with certificate‑based self‑enrollment, alongside RUCKUS upgrades to controllers, switches and access points and a separate Chromebook network; Learning Resources staff were trained to assist users. The result was more reliable, secure wireless access, a big reduction in IT account work, faster Chromebook deployment, support for remote/mobile access initiatives and a strong expected ROI that underpins the college’s 24/7 digital‑learning strategy.

Blackpool and The Fylde College

Nick Wright

ICT Services Manager