Bovey Castle one of the first hotels in the South West of England to receive a five-star rating from the AA and RAC Hotel Guides chose to use ZyXEL's networking products for offering their guests and staff a secure and speedy Internet service.
Delivers a secure and speedy Internet service for their guests and staff with ZyXEL networking solution
Bovey Castle one of the first hotels in the South West of England to receive a five-star rating from the AA and RAC Hotel Guides chose to use ZyXEL's networking products for offering their guests and staff a secure and speedy Internet service.
Overview
Overview

Hotel Broadband, a leading provider of high speed Internet solutions, was entrusted with the implementation of a wireless infrastructure throughout the hotel as a result of their successful Internet implementation in the conference rooms a year earlier. They chose to use ZyXEL's products for the implementation because of their excellent security features and comprehensive wireless access points which addressed the two key challenges that the Castle faced, aesthetics and security.
The Project

"Whilst we understood the Internet was an expected necessity, certain factors had to be considered before we could go ahead with any installation," commented Paul Downing, reservations manager at Bovey. "Our main concern was the security aspect. The hotel plays host to very important clients who would be opening emails containing extremely sensitive data and it was therefore crucial we had a fully secure system in place to prevent any possible hacking."
The solution proposed by Hotel Broadband was a range of ZyXEL products including the ZyAIR 3000 wireless access points with comprehensive security features including 802.1x authentication, 256-bit WEP encryption and WPA. The hotel also installed three ZyXEL 2024 managed Dimension switches which served to isolate the access points on the network. As security features could be programmed specifically for current residents, both the hotel and their clientele could be reassured that sensitive data on their personal computer could not be accessed by anyone else through the wireless network internally or externally. In addition, remote monitoring by Hotel Broadband on the health of all the access points, using a custom developed guest service gateway, gave the hotel further reassurance, as it made sure any problems in the network could be pinpointed and resolved immediately.
In addition to security aesthetics was also a key consideration for Bovey. To keep in with their 1920s ethos, the Castle forbids mobile phones in any public leisure areas and decided to follow the same rule for laptops, limiting wireless access to bedrooms and the conference areas. As the castle was a listed building, the wires associated with a standard network installation posed a problem, distorting the castle's 1920s ambience. In addition to this, drilling holes in the walls would not only have made the £20 million refurbishment the castle had recently undergone a pointless exercise, but also was impossible due to asbestos in the loft and basement areas. As the Castle is located in 368 square miles of the isolated Dartmoor Broads, the proposed solution also needed to address this in order to ensure uninterrupted Internet use.
Installing a wireless network for Bovey Castle was the obvious solution to avoid any wiring, the ZyXEL products are also hidden from public view further ensuring the aesthetics were in keeping with the hotel's wishes. Furthermore, in order to ensure uninterrupted coverage within the Castle and guarantee that key points of the hotel had a constant high bandwidth, ZyXEL's VDSL (high speed DSL) products were installed including three pairs of P841s and P841cs; using the hotel's original telephone lines this meant that the hotel could benefit from high bandwidth without the need for any additional wiring.
The Benefits
In addition to security aesthetics was also a key consideration for Bovey. To keep in with their 1920s ethos, the Castle forbids mobile phones in any public leisure areas and decided to follow the same rule for laptops, limiting wireless access to bedrooms and the conference areas. As the castle was a listed building, the wires associated with a standard network installation posed a problem, distorting the castle's 1920s ambience. In addition to this, drilling holes in the walls would not only have made the £20 million refurbishment the castle had recently undergone a pointless exercise, but also was impossible due to asbestos in the loft and basement areas. As the Castle is located in 368 square miles of the isolated Dartmoor Broads, the proposed solution also needed to address this in order to ensure uninterrupted Internet use.
Installing a wireless network for Bovey Castle was the obvious solution to avoid any wiring, the ZyXEL products are also hidden from public view further ensuring the aesthetics were in keeping with the hotel's wishes. Furthermore, in order to ensure uninterrupted coverage within the Castle and guarantee that key points of the hotel had a constant high bandwidth, ZyXEL's VDSL (high speed DSL) products were installed including three pairs of P841s and P841cs; using the hotel's original telephone lines this meant that the hotel could benefit from high bandwidth without the need for any additional wiring.
The Benefits
A combination of wireless and VDSL products have ensured full coverage throughout the main castle, conference blocks and staff accommodation. Using a combination of mains and Power over Ethernet (PoE) to power the devices has allowed for installation in areas without access to power outlets such as the attic.

"The wireless implementation, which we decided to offer at no extra charge to our guests, has really made a difference to the hotel's service and has helped us maintain our position as on of the UK's top 5 star hotels. By offering this as a free added extra for staff also allowed us to kill two birds with one stone. We are extremely pleased with ZyXEL's products and feel confident that we can now offer our guests and staff a secure and speedy Internet service that can be accessed at their leisure," concluded Downing.