U Wyoming To Overhaul Legacy Wireless System

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 04/10/08

The University of Wyoming is replacing the wireless network currently at its Laramie campus with Aruba's wireless LAN and AirWave Wireless Management Suite. The 13,000-student school selected Aruba technology based on cost, design and centralized management capabilities.

"Our legacy wireless network of fat [access points] was fast approaching the end of its service life, and we wanted to replace all existing APs and expand access to the entire campus using a more robust, feature-rich network that the IT staff could centrally monitor and manage," said Robert Morrison, the university's director of telecommunications and systems services. "Our technical investigation showed that Aruba offered the most cost-effective solution, integrating a flexible, scalable architecture with the powerful, easy-to-use AirWave management software. The analytics available from the software open a window into the status and operation of the entire network, backed by a detailed report generator for analyzing trends."

The university is primarily deploying the AP-65, a dual-radio wireless indoor access point.

Aruba equipment uses Adaptive Radio Management (ARM) technology, a form of radio resource management that automatically adjusts the network to compensate for new clients, sources of interference and the type of applications in use.

The management software from AirWave, a division of Aruba, includes four modules: the AirWave Management Platform (AMP) for real-time monitoring and trend reporting, VisualRF Location and Mapping, RAPIDS Rogue Detection to expose unauthorized access points, and AirWave Master Console & Failover Servers for network-wide monitoring of network performance.