URI wireless Internet to get a boost
Greg Gentile
Issue date: 10/1/09 Section: News
10/1/09 -
The University of Rhode Island's wireless Internet system will undergo a complete facelift by next fall, said Director of Media and Technology Services David Porter.
With demand on the system growing, URI had to come up with a way to upgrade the network that uses equipment provided by the technology firm Cisco Systems.
"Cisco no longer would support the demand we had," Porter said. "It was not the most speedy."
URI had been working with a Cisco-supported wireless system called Aironet since 2002, when the university first started providing wireless access. At the time the university installed 400 access points in residence halls. The access points, which resemble an old-school modem, send out wireless signals that are picked up by laptops and other devices. The more access points, the greater wireless coverage available.
Before last spring, the wireless system worked on a standard called 802.11b. It was the first widely used standard incorporated in laptops. Under this frequency students could only transfer data between access points and their device at speeds up to 10 megabyte.
"We were at the situation where we've got 400 of these old crappy 802.11b access points that weren't doing too much for the students," Porter said.
When Cisco informed URI that it would no longer support the old Aironet system, Porter did what he called a "bake off." In the spring, technicians installed networks from different companies in Tyler Hall to find the best one. A network provided by Aruba took less than a day to set up, while the Cisco network took days to install. University officials started leaning toward Aruba and Cisco responded by offering lower prices. Aruba responded in kind. Ultimately the university selected Aruba and started installing the system over the summer.
"If we went with Cisco we would have to do a forklift upgrade [where] you throw everything out and you put all new stuff in. That doesn't sit too well with me," Porter said.
The University of Rhode Island's wireless Internet system will undergo a complete facelift by next fall, said Director of Media and Technology Services David Porter.
With demand on the system growing, URI had to come up with a way to upgrade the network that uses equipment provided by the technology firm Cisco Systems.
"Cisco no longer would support the demand we had," Porter said. "It was not the most speedy."
URI had been working with a Cisco-supported wireless system called Aironet since 2002, when the university first started providing wireless access. At the time the university installed 400 access points in residence halls. The access points, which resemble an old-school modem, send out wireless signals that are picked up by laptops and other devices. The more access points, the greater wireless coverage available.
Before last spring, the wireless system worked on a standard called 802.11b. It was the first widely used standard incorporated in laptops. Under this frequency students could only transfer data between access points and their device at speeds up to 10 megabyte.
"We were at the situation where we've got 400 of these old crappy 802.11b access points that weren't doing too much for the students," Porter said.
When Cisco informed URI that it would no longer support the old Aironet system, Porter did what he called a "bake off." In the spring, technicians installed networks from different companies in Tyler Hall to find the best one. A network provided by Aruba took less than a day to set up, while the Cisco network took days to install. University officials started leaning toward Aruba and Cisco responded by offering lower prices. Aruba responded in kind. Ultimately the university selected Aruba and started installing the system over the summer.
"If we went with Cisco we would have to do a forklift upgrade [where] you throw everything out and you put all new stuff in. That doesn't sit too well with me," Porter said.
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