Rarity for China Schools: Nanjing University Deploys Campus-wide Wireless LAN

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 09/05/08

Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications in China has deployed a campus-wide wireless LAN (WLAN) from Motorola. The WLAN will enable multimedia Internet-based teaching, automatic academic office management, Internet access, long-distance teaching, and other services. Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications is one of the few universities in China to provide complete wireless LAN coverage to every building in addition to the campus' outdoor spaces.

"With its high performance and scalability, Motorola's wireless LAN solutions will provide the university with reliable, end-to-end coverage, security, and manageability both outdoors and inside academic and administrative buildings, hostels, and canteens," said Jian-Zheng Xu, campus network manager. "Motorola is helping us realize our goal of managing and teaching through the WLAN network to provide convenience to the lecturers and enhance the students' learning experiences."

To deliver campus-wide coverage spanning more than 4.5 million square feet and with the potential to support 15,000 users, the WLAN required 600 access points (APs) including Motorola AP300 wireless access ports and mesh-enabled AP-5131 access points. The campus also uses Motorola's RFS7000 RF switch, which features the Wi-NG architecture and the RF Management suite.

The Motorola technology allows the IT staff to control and monitor the wireless network at the campus network center. The system is able to detect and report AP errors and adjust the power of nearby APs to compensate for blind spot areas. It can also provide backup data for two campuses so that the WLAN coverage won't be affected if either the wireless network or wired network is disrupted. Additionally, the Motorola WLAN provides security with support for wi-fi protected access (WPA) and WPA2. The inclusion of a wireless intrusion protection system (WIPS) enhances security by monitoring, detecting, protecting, and helping prevent intrusions to the wireless network. User verification is managed through a central verification platform, also at the campus network center.