Managed Network Upgrade
We’re upgrading the Managed Network – our service that delivers faster, safer internet to schools across Aotearoa – to ensure ākonga continue to benefit from safer connection, smarter protection and ongoing support.
The Managed Network Upgrade involves replacing school firewalls before they reach end-of-life, to avoid operational and security implications, and switching to a new internet connection. All schools have been scheduled for a Managed Network Upgrade between March 2025 and mid-2026.
The upgrade has been designed to ensure we can keep up with evolving threats, and the new firewalls have been carefully selected to support future needs of schools and kura; including ongoing growth in internet use and the adoption of new security features.
What will the Managed Network Upgrade mean for my school?
A new internet connection
As part of the upgrade, we’ll switch you to a new internet connection, supplied by 2degrees.
You’ll be able to use the internet just like you do now, with no change in access for ākonga and kaiako; and you’ll continue to benefit from a faster, safer connection.
A new firewall
Your current FortiGate firewall will be replaced by a new Palo Alto one, before it reaches end-of-life.
This is essential to ensure your school continues to benefit from safety and security features, such as Web Filtering (if your firewall were to reach end-of-life these features would stop working).
Ongoing support
Following your school’s upgrade, our Customer Support team will continue to assist you with any questions or queries relating to your Managed Network, in the same way they do now.
Please note, this firewall upgrade is different to the Ministry of Education’s Te Mana Tūhono programme, which is replacing school Wi-Fi network equipment and providing cybersecurity support. You can find more information on the Te Mana Tūhono programme here.
There is nothing you need to do to organise your upgrade, just wait for us to be in touch when it’s your turn! We’ll take care of the entire process for you, including the upgrade, installation and set up, in partnership with our IT Panel. The upgrade is also fully funded by the Ministry of Education for state and state-integrated schools.
In the lead-up to your designated upgrade month, we’ll contact you directly to let you know your upgrade is coming up, and to schedule a visit.
The install at your school will be completed by an accredited technician from our IT Panel. These partners have a proven track-record of working successfully with schools and frequently help deliver N4L projects. Together, we’ve been working to streamline the upgrade process, and our top priority is ensuring we minimise downtime and associated impact on teaching and learning on your upgrade day.
The upgrade process
Schools with additional functionality like remote access, identity or other complex features may require extra technical steps prior to their Managed Network Upgrade.
FAQs
When will my school be upgraded?
All schools will be upgraded to the new solution between March 2025 and mid-2026. We’ll be in touch 1-2 months before your allocated upgrade month to book a day and time that suits your school.
What does the install process involve for my school?
Your current FortiGate firewall will be replaced by a new Palo Alto one, before it reaches end-of-life. Additionally, your internet connection will move from Spark to 2degrees, which means a change in IP address for the school and any school hosted internet-accessible services or applications.
An accredited IT technician from the N4L Panel will complete the work onsite, supported remotely by an N4L network engineer. The N4L Panel technician will require access to the room and cabinet where your current FortiGate is located. They’ll also need to know where the fibre connection point (or ‘ONT’) is located – typically this will be in the same room as the firewall, but very rarely it may be in another building or room at the school. The N4L technician will work with the school to ensure appropriate testing is carried out before and after the firewall is replaced.
There will be some intermittent service disruptions during the cutover, but we aim to keep these to a minimum. Some systems and applications (e.g. CCTV, VOIP and building management systems) may experience a longer outage while we work with your third party providers to update the IP address in their systems. However, excluding unforeseen circumstances, we don’t envisage any prolonged internet outages for schools.
Will my school’s internet be interrupted during the install process?
Yes. However for most schools we do not expect prolonged (>30 mins) outages. Some school systems and applications, such as CCTV, VOIP phone systems and building management systems, may experience a longer outage while we work with your third party provider/s to update the IP address and carry out testing. Excluding unforeseen circumstances, no prolonged internet outages are envisaged – meaning teaching and learning should be largely unaffected.
Due to a more complex changeover, we expect school internet will be unavailable for up to 4 hours for P2P/Rural Fibre schools and Starlink schools, however we will do our best to minimise disruption.