Connecting the Tank Museum

What challenges did the Tank Museum face with your previous connectivity, and how did it affect day‑to‑day operations or visitor experience?

We originally had three ‘superfast’ lines from BT which were used for visitors, staff, and emergencies. A busy day at the Tank Museum can see up to 3,000 visitors on site, with the increased demand on the internet connection we had no choice but to switch our visitors Wi-Fi off as no internet connection was better than an unstable one.

At this time the Wi-Fi was only available in one hall which hugely impacted our ability to offer visitors the ability to interact with the exhibitions throughout the site and uploading their own photos was extremely slow.

We’re now with Wessex Internet on a 4GB connection and we couldn’t be happier with the product, reliability and service we receive.

How has ultrafast connectivity from Wessex Internet enhanced the visitor experience at the Tank Museum?

Since Wessex Internet installed our lines there was an instant and lasting impact. We get consistent high speeds throughout the Tank Museum, including outdoors – and we’re completing regular speed checks just to make sure! We’ve never seen it dip. We have expanded our visitors Wi-Fi network throughout the Exhibition Halls and around the Arena from Spring to Autumn.

Our ever-popular Gaming Zone, sponsored by the World of Tanks is now able to host users at the 12 PC’s and multiple iPads and Xbox’s - the internet connection allows visitors to have an uninterrupted gaming experience within this area.

We’ve also seen that the demographic visiting the Tank Museum has shifted, thanks to our ability to upload videos to YouTube and allow visitors to upload their own content live at the museum, younger generations and families are a core part of our audience we welcome to the Tank Museum.

Although Wessex Internet can’t take credit for our higher visitor numbers whenever it rains!

What made you choose our ultrafast broadband service over other options available to you?

Wessex Internet were flexible, quick and fairly priced. We were amazed that from asking to be connected to going live, was just 9 days! And despite multiple offers, we have never been tempted back to our previous provider.

There are four Wessex Internet lines giving us the ability and flexibility to switch them on and off during the year, allowing us to meet high and low demand providing the appropriate connectivity that meets the needs of our team and visitors.

And for outages? Since being connected to Wessex Internet, we have had one outage which was fixed within 2 to 3 hours, and we were updated at every step of the process.

Tell us more about Tankfest? How has the reliability of the connection and bandwidth supported the annual event?

Tankfest is our biggest event each year attracting 24,000 visitors in just 3 days. From Military reenactments to tank shows and traders, there is a lot going on and with everyone now being a mobile phone user, we’re able to provide free Wi-Fi across the site and not have to worry about reliability or contention.

If you were recommending us to another local organisation, what would you say about the experience and the results?

Wessex Internet are easy to work with and have made the whole process of getting the Tank Museum connected simple. We are impressed with their efficiency at responding to any queries and all at a great price. We’d be happy to recommend Wessex Internet to any local, rural business.