Wireless-only residence halls - would appreciate insights from those who have implemented this approach

Ditto from Curry… identical to Mark at Freed-Hardeman U.

Dennis Thibeault

Curry College

From: The EDUCAUSE CIO Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:CIO@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU] On Behalf Of Mark Scott
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2012 11:07 AM
To: CIO@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU
Subject: Re: [CIO] Wireless-only residence halls - would appreciate insights from those who have implemented this approach

We have wireless and wired available in all our dorms, the majority use wireless only. We rarely have complaints about online games, game sharing, etc. We use Aruba.

Respectfully,

Mark Scott
VP of Innovation and Technology, CTO
Freed-Hardeman University | 158 E. Main St. | Henderson, TN 38340
731-989-6002 | mscott@fhu.edu | Twitter: http://twitter.com/m_scott

Cyber Security Awareness - FHU Online Safety

We took the approach that you need both still.  Wireless is still half duplex and a lower speed than wired.  However the wifi technology is catching up.  Hybrid AP’s are available now that give you both.

Wired for elevators , E911 and Lounges (with IPTV),  hybrid AP’s for the rooms.

We run a parallel network for gamers. It’s available on the wired and wireless and they have to register their MAC (XBOX,PS3, WII) to be on it. 

Our stats show 80% on wireless and the device type ranges from 2-3 devices per student.  This is trending higher and by next year I suspect 90-95% on wireless.

Why hybrid AP’s then?  If you need a wired connection,  it’s there..

Typically, in the past, ‘port per pillow’ but now we are modeling ‘x amount of students/AP’.  My Colleague at another local University is averaging 6 (wifi)devices/student.  

I’m sure this model will change as we add buildings and the technology is enhanced.

BTW we are an Alcatel/Aruba shop.  They are very student/university friendly.

I hope this is helpful,

russ 

We opened a new residence hall here at Framingham State a year ago that is about the same size.  The University only provides wireless network access in the new North Hall building except for a limited number of designated common areas (group study rooms).  Hardwired Internet connections from individual rooms are still available to students for “recreational use”, or just personal preference, as a cable television provider option (at additional cost).  Very few students have opted for the additional hardwired connection option at the additional cost.  Our network hardware and software provider is Enterasys Networks.

In terms of the rationale behind this decision, we explained that investing more in wireless technology is consistent with demand and student preferences.  The University avoided the cost of cabling the new residence hall.  But we also have a University “Climate Action Plan”.  By limiting the number of network electronics to support only a wireless network (as opposed to both hardwired and wireless) the demand for power, equipment, support and maintenance is minimized. 

There have not been any more complaints in the wireless only residence hall as compared to the other residence halls on campus which are both wireless and hardwired.  (As we all know, there is always some level of dissatisfaction with wireless access for numerous reasons).

Regards,

-P

Patrick Laughran | Chief Information Officer | Information Technology Services | 508/626-4048 w 508/626-4947 (fax) | Framingham State University | 100 State Street w PO Box 9101 w Framingham, MA  01701-9101

Thomas,

Two years ago we totally redesigned our network. As part of that redesign we upgraded all of our cabling to Cat-6 and installed a brand new wireless network working with Aruba Networks. All our students now connect to our network via wireless and we have not had any issues.

Please let me know if would like to discuss further.

Regards

Darrell K

J. Darrell Kulesza
Vice President of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer
Dean College
99 Main Street
Franklin, MA 02038
508-541-1864 - phone

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We moved to “mostly” wireless in the residence halls about 4 years ago when we refreshed our network.  We offered both wireless and wired connectivity prior to this.  However, the wireless we had in place wasn’t up to the increasing demands that laptops and other smaller portable devices were placing on it. 

Despite being a port per pillow, even when students would complain the wireless wasn’t reliable or working well they would simply refuse to tether their computer to our network with a cable.  We did a little research and bookkeeping and found that only 22% of our network ports in residence halls had a device attached anytime during the year before the network overhaul.

As these numbers emerged we began the conversation with our Student Government organization about going all wireless in the residence halls.   We agreed to build a much more robust wireless infrastructure covering all buildings and nearly all of the green spaces.  As this conversation progressed we began to win the converts we needed.

What finally carried the day is that that we agreed to provide a wired connection for a fee (satisfied the gaming community) and began to factor in the green/sustainability factors of not powering network equipment that was not being used.  Our student body is very conscious of environmental issues.  Only about 1% to 3% of our student body opt for wired connections (generally gamers).   We’ve been able to meet this demand with spare ports we have on our POE switches.  Our existing cat 5/6 cabling is still in good shape and hopefully will remain so for quite some time as we aren’t getting a lot of people using the ports in the rooms.  The wall jacks were always problematic on the maintenance front.

We put in a Cisco Wireless network (WISM controller based architecture with MIMO APs) and performed wireless surveys in our larger buildings to insure optimal placement of APs.  This was only part of a multi-faceted upgrade which included NAC for compliance scanning for antivirus and OS patching.  Year one of this was a real nightmare, more the NAC than the wireless… but now going into our fifth year I am really pleased that we selected this path.  While I don’t have any evidence, my gut feeling is that the NAC and insuring that the user community stays current with OS updates and  antivirus software was/is key to the success of the success of this program as much as putting in a top tier wireless solution.

Steve