Campus Wi-Fi networks experience unique challenges especially due to the high number of devices and quantity of bandwidth intensive applications. Campus networks consist of thousands of WLAN access points and associated infrastructure to handle the load and students carry 2 to 4 devices, sometimes all connecting to the WLAN network simultaneously. Campus WLAN has become an irreplaceable service for students, staff and visitors in education, research and sports events. In addition, the disruption taking place in the high-education space due to the growth in online universities makes the campus life experience more important than ever before. The student experience must be extraordinary in order to stay competitive. As a result, high performance Wi-Fi is required in order to meet and exceed the expectations of a diverse campus population. Poorly performing Wi-Fi may drive students away from certain areas on campus or may influence their decision to attend college with a campus at all. The Wi-Fi at this California university was below par and administrators knew that this put the student experience and reputation of the university at risk.
Like many universities across the US, this California State University has a diverse and large student body, a campus covering hundreds of acres and over 100 buildings. One of the challenges facing this university and most universities is that end users roam. Because students are constantly “on-the-go” they are more likely to experience coverage issues and a poor experience. But as it is with many campus networks there is a significant discrepancy between end-user feedback and dashboard status. Facebook and Twitter may be trending complaints about the Wi-Fi, however, network administrators lack the tools and systems to measure, identify and address Wi-Fi issues proactively. For example, this California University discovered there was poor wireless coverage in residence halls. But it had gone unreported and undiscovered for several weeks. Reason being was that the system being used to manage the network was indicating that everything was looking good and in the “green”. But after a slew of vocal complaints, network engineers were dispatched to the residence hall for a closer look, at which point, it became obvious that something was wrong.