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NINE MYTHSABOUT WI-FI IN HIGHER EDUCATION
In the first article of a three-part series, Moe Raslan, Director, Middle East, Ruckus Wireless, outlines below the nine myths about campus Wi- Fi deployments, which if avoided, mean there is a much better chance it will work as promised.
Until a few years ago universities were Wi-Fi hot spots. Many institutions lacked the budget for robust deployments and many others avoided the technology for security or educational reasons. Today, Wi-Fi is a reality on most campuses, but it still has a bit of spotty reputation in some circles.
1The average student brings 3 devices to campus Most students carry a laptop and a smartphone. Some have a tablet too. In their room they have hooked up a gaming console, wireless printer, smart TV. According to re: fuel Agency’ s 2014 College Explorer report, the average student brings seven internet-connected devices to campus. All of these devices are Wi-Fi enabled, and all of these devices are trying to connect to campus Wi-Fi.
2
More access points in high density areas will ensure better wireless coverage It is a common mistake to think that throwing money at a problem will solve it. Adding APs to a Wi-Fi deployment can add capacity to a point, but there comes a time when it becomes counterproductive.
APs can see performance degradation due to over-deployment when more than one AP is covering the same channel to the same device. For some Wi-Fi installations, APs are configured with low transmit power to give the illusion that an over-deployment has been avoided. Don’ t fall for this. Wi-Fi is a two-way
MOE RASLAN
Director, Middle East, Ruckus Wireless
communication technology, and thus decreasing AP transmit power fails to prevent channel congestion problems.
3
Wave 2 APs won’ t help without Wave 2 clients While it’ s true that the full benefits of the Wave 2 Wi-Fi standard won’ t be recognised until the devices are available, Wave 1 APs do not deliver the same performance as Wave 2.
Wave 2 APs use a more modern chipset, which offers better sensitivity. This means better connectivity and greater range, regardless of what standard the connected device supports.
4
Wi-Fi is the weakest link in your IT security It would be silly to argue that adding Wi-Fi has no effect on IT security.
Student, faculty and administrators will all have to be authenticated. However, Wi-Fi security is now strong, standardised and widely available. Passwords aren’ t flying through the air, because every certified Wi-Fi device must support AES encryption.
5
Upgraded PoE is needed when upgrading APs With new standards, comes greater power requirements, and when three-stream Multiple Input, Multiple Output( MIMO) was made commonplace, it led to APs needing even
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