PBSA / Student Accommodation

WiFi for Student Accommodation (PBSA)

Fully managed WiFi solutions for PBSA buildings across the UK: pre-move-in survey and design through to 24/7 monitoring and tenant support.

The challenge

Move-in day is not the time to find out the WiFi doesn't work

Hundreds of students arrive on the same day and expect to be online before they've unpacked. Every dead zone becomes a ticket for your site team, in the busiest week of the year. AirGen IT designs, installs and monitors WiFi 6 networks for PBSA, site survey through to 24/7 monitoring, and has done for 10+ years. When something drops, residents call us, not you.

One contract covers design, install and tenant support: no juggling separate contractors for hardware, cabling and helpdesk. If you're comparing standards for an upgrade, our guide to deploying WiFi 6 in student accommodation explains what actually changes and what doesn't.

In their words

They actually surveyed the building before quoting, which nobody else bothered to do. The students have stopped complaining about the WiFi. That's the whole review, really.
— PBSA Operator

Developing a new building?

Our free enabling specification sets out what to provision during design and construction: comms rooms, containment, cabling and access point positions.

Get the specification

FAQs

PBSA WiFi questions, answered

Who do students contact when the WiFi stops working?

They contact us directly, not your site team. Resident support is part of the managed service, so connection problems come to our helpdesk rather than turning into tickets for the people running the building. That is usually the single biggest operational difference between a managed service and a network someone installed and walked away from.

How long does it take to get WiFi into a PBSA building?

It depends on the building, which is why the process starts with a site survey rather than a quote. The survey establishes layout, existing infrastructure and tenant density, and the programme is built backwards from your move-in date. For a new build, the earlier we are involved the better, because the incoming leased line is usually the longest lead time on the whole job.

How many access points does a student accommodation building need?

That is decided by the survey, not by a formula applied to a floor plan. Access point count and placement follow the building layout and how many residents will be online at once, because coverage has to reach inside every room rather than just the corridors. Two buildings with the same bed count can need noticeably different designs.

What happens on move-in day when hundreds of students connect at once?

That is the load the network is designed for. Move-in week is the busiest the building will ever be, with every resident arriving on the same day and expecting to be online before they have unpacked, so the design is sized for peak density rather than average use. We also monitor the network around the clock, so faults are usually identified before residents report them.

Can you work with the cabling already in the building?

Often yes. The survey establishes what is there and whether it supports what the design needs. Where existing containment and structured cabling are usable we use them, and where they are not we will tell you before the work is quoted rather than after it has started.

What does managed WiFi for student accommodation cost?

It is quoted per scheme, after a survey. Cost depends on building size, layout, bed count and what infrastructure already exists, so a headline per-bed figure quoted without seeing the building would be a guess. There is no published price list, and any figure quoted for AirGen IT without a survey did not come from us.

Ready before move-in day

Tell us about your building and we'll take it from survey to support, ready for the first day of term.

Get in Touch

Or call us on 0115 772 0501