Gigahertz. Metrics. Throughput. These words might not mean much to most students, or faculty and staff, for that matter. However, this highly technical jargon is integral to the way the ACU wireless network functions and will continue to function in the future.
ACU Networking Services started rolling out its wireless data network plan in 2006. The program focused on bringing wireless Internet to the residence halls as quickly as possible, and created a four-year deployment plan to blanket the entire campus. Everything was going according to plan, said Arthur Brant, director of Networking Services, until February 2008, when the university unveiled its Mobile Learning Initiative.
“What we recognized was that if we were going to use converged mobile devices in the classroom, we were ill-prepared to handle that with the current deployment plan,” Brant said.
The new deployment plan required Brant and his team to install 330 access points in 24 weeks, he said. “It doubled the number of access points required to support the entire campus.”
Networking Services refocused during the summer of 2008 to concentrate on areas where freshmen would most likely congregate, such as Hart Auditorium.
“While it looks good on paper, the reality is when you put 300 iPhone-toting freshmen in a 6400-square-foot auditorium, it doesn’t work,” Brant said. “Paper didn’t translate to workable solutions.”
A fully functional wireless network is essential to the success of the Mobile Learning Initiative. Brant said his team worked closely with professors who wanted to start using converged learning methods in their classes on a regular basis, like Dr. Mark Phillips, assistant professor of management sciences.
“Instead of using it once a month, we’re using it three times a week,” Philips said. “The issue is that you have 70 students in that room all trying to connect to the network at once.”
To overcome the problem, Network Services installed several more access points, locating them precisely so they would not interfere with each other. They even sent a technician to Phillip’s first class to monitor the network and make sure it functioned properly.
Phillips said now he rarely has problems getting on, except at the beginning of class when everyone tries to access the network at the exact same time.
“My guess is by the end of the semester, we’ll have this thing running really smoothly,” he said.
Less than two years later, the university is able to provide wireless access almost everywhere on campus, including “green spaces” like the mall and the Larry Sanders Intramural Fields, Brant said.
“This is something we needed to do,” he said. “If we didn’t, students would – with their Linksys routers. Wireless is an expected service now.”
