Stanley Hall | TP-Link United Kingdom

Challenge

Stanley Arts faced significant connectivity issues with their legacy network, causing frustration among staff and visitors. The unreliable Wi-Fi hindered effective working and threatened the venue's reputation. The historic building's age and limited budget added to the complexity of upgrading the network.
Solution

Phasethree Ltd developed a custom Wi-Fi solution using Omada by TP-Link technology. They integrated the existing infrastructure with new components, optimising network performance through strategic placement of access points and advanced configuration options. This provided a reliable and easily managed network.
Result

The new Wi-Fi network transformed Stanley Arts, enhancing connectivity for staff, visitors and event teams. The reliable network supports video calls, internet access, and AV systems, boosting productivity and user satisfaction. The venue's reputation improved, attracting more events and filming opportunities.

Implementation Partner

Phasethree offers a comprehensive range of structured network cabling solutions for both private and public sectors. From offices to hospitality, they specialises in copper, fibre optics, and Wi-Fi access points. Their commitment to transparency and reliability ensures they consistently exceed requirements and add value to every project.

Background of Stanley Hall

Stanley Arts is one of South London’s premiere arts and performance venues, providing the local community with a vital home for cultural expression and discovery. The organisation is based in a complex around Stanley Hall, a historic art nouveau building in South Norwood, London.
Promoting Inclusivity and Diversity

Stanley Arts is a radically inclusive space that seeks to promote under-represented voices, providing artists of colour and LGBTQ+ creatives with a platform to reach out to audiences across South London and beyond. The venue offers co-working, hosts resident companies, and is available for hire for private and community events and activities.
Diverse User Base and Connectivity Needs

Along with 17 Stanley Arts staff, there are two theatre companies based here, with 10+ employees and several creative organisations, including a spiritualist, a furniture restorer, a personal trainer, and a life drawing artist. We all need to use the Wi-Fi every day," explains Ella Goel, Marketing Manager at Stanley Arts. In addition, Stanley Arts hosts event teams and audiences, performance and arts classes, and co-working centre users. They all expect to be able to connect easily.
Frustrations with Legacy Network

The legacy network and Wi-Fi system were causing discontent and frustration to the in-house team and visitors. Ella says, "It was the number one problem of the top ten we discussed at every management meeting, month after month.

Our work efficiency in the building has improved massively, for our office team, for our resident companies and for visitors and guests. The high-quality Wi-Fi has become part of our strong marketing offer, supporting facilities like our hearing loop, AV system and co-working space.

Ella Goel,

Marketing Manager, Stanley Arts

Impact on Staff and Venue Reputation

For Stanley Arts workers, the Wi-Fi was a barrier to effective working: many preferred to work from home or other venues because the Wi-Fi was so unreliable. "It was so disruptive, and staff morale was low," Ella adds. "And it was difficult when people hired the venue and couldn't get internet access - we didn't want to have a bad reputation for connectivity which might discourage community and arts users.
Partnering with Phasethree Ltd

Data Network Infrastructure provider Phasethree Ltd was introduced to Stanley Arts by a partner and wanted to support the organisation as part of its Profit with Purpose commitment.

Omada Total Cloud Managed Network

Assessing the Challenges

Sales Director, Matt Mumford says, "As soon as we visited Stanley Arts, we could see that the building was a challenge, due to its age. The previous network wasn't working properly: despite having an expensive fixed leased line, there wasn't enough capacity."
Budget constraints and integration
needs

As a non-profit organisation, the Stanley Arts budget was limited. Starting from scratch was not an option. Matt and his team had to find a way to integrate useable elements of the existing infrastructure with a new and effective Wi-Fi solution.
Developing a Custom Wi-Fi Solution

Matt adds, "The legacy AV network proved difficult. Our challenge was to understand, simplify and integrate the systems so that Stanley Arts had an affordable, easily managed Wi-Fi solution with plenty of capacity for all the people and systems that rely on it."
Choosing Omada for Optimal Integration

Matt recommended Omada because the technology offered excellent value for money and a range of advanced configuration options. With the complexity of the building, the technical support available and the flexibility of the Omada platform and products made it easier to integrate with the existing infrastructure.

I would absolutely recommend TP-Link to other clients - not only because we understand the technical benefits and value, but also because this first experience of using Omada (even under pressure, with an unfamiliar network) has been so straightforward. Phasethree has undertaken more product training, allowing us to deploy and recommend it with even greater confidence.

Matt Mumford,

Sales Director, Phasethree Ltd

Addressing Legacy Workarounds

"There were lots of workarounds and quick fixes that had over time become unmanageable, so we had to unpick all that," Matt says. "We had to think creatively to make everything work together. TP-LINK's Local Technical team was really responsive and helped us design and configure a robust solution to meet the specific needs of the Stanley Halls complex."
Implementing the New Infrastructure

A new Omada Wi-Fi router provided connection out of the building. Omada network switches, access points, routers, and an on-site controller delivered coverage throughout the Stanley Arts premises. VLANs separate the old and new infrastructure components, for smooth switching.

100% centralised cloud management of the whole network from different sites - all controlled from a single interface anywhere, anytime.

Optimising Network Performance

"We did a Wi-Fi survey through the building to optimise the location of each access point, so we could reduce the number of points and the amount of cabling and switch ports," says Matt. "We made the most of the flexibility and advanced features of the Omada’s Wi-Fi 6 in the design phase. TP-LINK's technical consultant gave us remote technical advice, network configuration services, and the products at a not-for-profit rate. They also helped us integrate the AV system and CCTV."
Enhancing Community Connectivity

For everyone who works at or visits Stanley Arts, the new Wi-Fi network has improved their experience. Ella says, "We're striving to become a more accessible venue and having the hearing loop working effectively helps with this. More people are using the cafe and Wi-Fi to meet and collaborate."
Reliable network for collaboration

Resident and co-workers in the Stanley Arts building can now depend on the network for video calls, internet access, and connection to work and collaboration platforms. The Stanley Arts team can work effectively from its own premises.
Boosting Marketing Efficiency

For Ella, there's a particular benefit in her marketing role: "Uploading and downloading content is really important. It's easy and fast to upload videos to YouTube or social media, which makes a big difference to my job."
High Usage and Secure Network

On any day, at least 50 workers typically use the Wi-Fi, as well as visitors - there can be 300 people at a performance, wedding, or event. "We have a staff network for our office team, a guest network for visitors, and an AV network - they are secure and separate, giving us good control over our own data," Ella explains.
Reliable AV system and payment solutions

Stanley Arts users are also enjoying the effective and reliable AV system which operates over Wi-Fi to provide sound for events, classes, and meetings. Bar and box office payments are taken using EPOS terminals over Wi-Fi.
Enhancing Filming Location Appeal

Stanley Hall is a regular filming location: the strong Wi-Fi adds to its reputation, so that location teams will continue to recommend it, knowing that film crews can connect with confidence.
Ongoing Network Management

Matt and his team at Phasethree are responsible for monitoring the network. "We have gone from 63,000 network errors per day to zero," he says. "We seldom get alerts from Omada because there are no problems - we do get reminders to download software and run optimisations: we can do this remotely, at any time of day, via PC or through the Omada phone app in a very efficient way, with no service disruption."
Conclusion

"I am impressed with Omada: this is a more than capable solution at a very competitive price and does everything that Stanley Arts needs," Matt says. "In fact, as well as achieving savings with fewer access points, they might now be able to reduce the leased line throughput, which will bring down the operating cost further."