Ithaca College Updates Wi-Fi

Ithaca College in New York is upgrading to an 802.11ac wireless network to provide improved bandwidth, density and coverage campus-wide, including 29 academic and administrative buildings.

The college has had reliable Wi-Fi coverage in its residence halls through on-campus residential networks (ResNet) for some time now, and students have been asking for that same level of coverage on the campus networks. Frustration with spotty connectivity in academic and administrative areas, coupled with the dramatic increase in Wi-Fi usage and the number of wireless devices being used by students, faculty and staff, lead to the college's decision to upgrade its Wi-Fi network.

The college's ResNet service provider is Apogee, a company that specializes in networking services for higher education, and the college opted to expand its partnership with the company for this campus-wide deployment rather than asking Ithaca's IT staff to manage the upgrade themselves.

"By tapping into Apogee's higher education wireless expertise, instead of handling this major overhaul in-house, we estimate saving three years of staff time," said Gerald Hector, vice president for Finance and Administration at Ithaca, in a prepared statement. "Additionally, we can now deliver the best Wi-Fi in higher education while providing an efficient solution at a reasonable price."

According to Apogee, the upgraded wireless network will provide "seamless and reliable wireless coverage" across campus, including high-density areas such as lecture halls, auditoriums and dining facilities. The new wireless network is intended to support full roaming to prevent service interruptions when moving around campus, and to provide higher bandwidth to support more simultaneous device connections.

About the Author

Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].

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