Case Study
Exterior of the University of Brighton

Intersite connectivity at the University of Brighton

We delivered a transformative, high-capacity solution for intersite connectivity for the University of Brighton – and achieved a significant cost saving.

The University of Brighton community includes 17,000 students and 2,150 staff. The university has three campuses in Brighton, including university accommodation and several separate buildings in the heart of the city.

All the sites are connected to each other via the university’s main data centre across an intersite network comprising a total of 14 circuits. These provide the connectivity required for teaching and learning, back office functions, building management, research and the needs of residential students.

Time for a change

To replace arrangements with several providers, in 2014 the university commissioned BT’s EtherConnect service to provide its intersite WAN (wide area network), connecting the entire estate under a single provider.

However, after a decade on that service, the university was struggling for bandwidth, cost was a concern, and there were challenges in managing the relationship with BT.

Initial conversations with prospective providers resulted in quotes that were untenably high. By contrast, we were able to provide a highly competitive quote that reduced the annual intersite connectivity bill from £430,000 to £68,000.

A more traditional network approach

Working with the university’s network services team, we developed a solution that moved away from the incumbent multipoint network, where each of the sites could communicate with each other directly, to a hub and spoke model with each site connected to the main data centre.

This more traditional setup was simpler yet effective, with each building having two circuits working in parallel, with one connected to the primary data centre and another to the backup data centre.

David Rickard, network services manager at the University of Brighton, said:

“Working with Jisc to develop and implement the project was a hugely positive experience. They were responsive, helpful, and understood what we needed and how to deliver it. They made it very easy.”

Exterior of the University of Brighton

Providing a resilient, futureproof solution

Delivered in stages between the initial conversations in September 2024 and December 2025, the project upgraded connectivity across the entire estate.

The organisation has gone from frequently pushing its connections to the limit to using just 20% of the available capacity at its main Falmer campus.

Satellite buildings which had previously been provisioned with a maximum of 2x600Mbps, with one site at just 2x50Mbps, were each boosted to a gigabit connection, while Falmer was upgraded to 2x10Gbps. This futureproofs against demand as traffic increases, including through the use of data-heavy applications and increasing use of AI.

The configuration means the network is resilient, and our ability to manage the relationship with the fibre providers removes a layer of administration. These advantages provide value in addition to the cost saving of more than £300,000 per year.

David said:

“It’s all working seamlessly. As well as the incredible cost saving, we’ve found the benefit of Jisc is that they understand the sector and our university, and are highly invested in making sure the solution works for us.”

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