Cross-campus Wi-Fi connectivity

1 February 2019 Education (Industry), Infrastructure, Products & Solutions

Charles Telfair Campus has selected Ruckus Networks, an ARRIS company, to deploy its campus-wide wireless network, providing learners and staff with quality Wi-Fi experience for the digital age.

“The Internet is an absolute necessity as it forms an integral part of our curriculum,” said Surendra Sewlall, IT manager at Charles Telfair Campus. “However, we had a significantly negative user experience and received numerous complaints, especially when lectures were interrupted or when students weren’t able to submit or work on their assignments. The students were impatient and the IT department frustrated.”

In fact, some of the lectures are being simultaneously conducted with Curtin University in Australia – meaning campus-wide Wi-Fi and connectivity is a mandatory criterion. As a result, the campus needed a solution that would not only resolve the unsteadiness of the current Wi-Fi connectivity, but also provide visibility over the wireless network for better monitoring and troubleshooting.

“We needed a solution with the right capacity to meet the demand for high user concurrent connections without performance degradation, while still being reliable and providing flexibility for the management of the network,” added Sewlall. Following a tender process, Ruckus distribution partner Westcon and integration partner Infosystems, headed by Souryanand Narroo, was appointed to design, install, and manage the project.

Notably, the expectation from the customer regarding the new setup of the wireless infrastructure at the campus was very high. “It was very challenging for us to position Ruckus on this project since they did not have any past experience with the brand,” said Narroo.

The campus compared the performance of the proposed Ruckus access point (AP) with a competitor product to determine which was best suited for their requirements. They also requested an RF plan to ensure better coverage across the campus before making a final decision. Following this, 68 Ruckus APs - R310 and R610 - were deployed to cover four floors, 62 locations including the classrooms and lecture theatres, auditorium, canteen, library and staff rooms providing capacity for up to 900 concurrent users, managed by the Ruckus Virtual SmartZone.

“Busy indoor locations such as classrooms and learning campuses can be the most challenging Wi-Fi environments. Dozens of users share the same crowded RF spectra, all expecting fast, reliable connectivity. This solution delivered the right combination of performance, affordability and ease of management needed for the learning environment of today,” said Riaan Graham, sales director for Ruckus Networks, sub-Saharan Africa.

Impressive progress has been achieved in the education system in Mauritius in terms of compulsory primary education, free secondary education and more tertiary institutions providing quality education. In fact, with a new ICT Strategy for Mauritius’s Education Sector, it is clear that access and digital technologies are becoming critical to not only making education more accessible, but also providing better services and enhancing the learning experience and teaching processes.

“We are now in an era where most of the education-related materials for tertiary education are online. Classrooms have become more collaborative and technology and access is playing a critical role here where reliable connectivity is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’, but a strategic component. We have experienced significantly improved Wi-Fi performance and user satisfaction since the successful implementation of the Wi-Fi network with steady connectivity, even during peak time periods. In fact, sometimes I even forget we have a wireless system as everything works and I get no complaints. It was difficult to explain why we did not opt to go for a traditional big brand – but I think everyone now sees we definitely made the right choice. I do not think I would have been more satisfied with another brand,” concludes Surendra.





Share this article:
Share via emailShare via LinkedInPrint this page



Further reading:

Upgrade your PCs to improve security
Information Security Infrastructure
Truly secure technology today must be designed to detect and address unusual activity as it happens, wherever it happens, right down to the BIOS and silicon levels.

Read more...
Hikvision launches AcuSeek NVR
Surveillance Products & Solutions AI & Data Analytics
By integrating natural language interaction, Hikvision’s AcuSeek NVR enables precise video and image retrieval within seconds, marking a transformative milestone for the security industry's advance into intelligent and efficient applications.

Read more...
Open source code can also be open risk
Information Security Infrastructure
Software development has changed significantly over the years, and today, open-source code increasingly forms the foundation of modern applications, with surveys indicating that 60 – 90% of the average application's code base consists of open-source components.

Read more...
Fastest PCIe Gen 5.0 NVMe SSD
Products & Solutions Infrastructure
Sandisk has unveiled the WD_BLACK SN8100 NVMe SSD with PCIe Gen 5.0 technology, an internal SSD delivering speeds up to 14 900 MB/s and capacities up to 4 TB, with 8 TB solutions available soon.

Read more...
Unified storage solution
Products & Solutions Infrastructure
CASA Software has announced the local availability of Nexsan’s upgraded unified storage solution, Unity NV4000, which is ideal for mixed workloads, from virtualisation and video surveillance to secure backup and recovery.

Read more...
Analyse, automate, and optimise logistics processes
neaMetrics Surveillance Transport (Industry) Products & Solutions Logistics (Industry)
In today’s rapidly evolving logistics sector, the pressure to improve process efficiency, optimise resource usage, and ensure seamless security is more intense than ever. Smart, proactive surveillance is no longer a luxury — it is a critical operational necessity.

Read more...
Suprema unveils BioStar Air
Suprema neaMetrics News & Events Access Control & Identity Management Infrastructure
Suprema launches BioStar Air, the first cloud-based access control platform designed to natively support biometric authentication and feature true zero-on-premise architecture. BioStar Air simplifies deployment and scales effortlessly to secure SMBs, multi-branch companies, and mixed-use buildings.

Read more...
Back-up securely and restore in seconds
Betatrac Telematic Solutions Editor's Choice Information Security Infrastructure
Betatrac has a solution that enables companies to back-up up to 8 TB of data onto a device and restore it in 30 seconds in an emergency, called Rapid Access Data Recovery (RADR).

Read more...
Advanced surveillance storage from ASBIS
Infrastructure Surveillance Products & Solutions
From a video storage solutions perspective, SkyHawk drives, designed for DVRs and NVRs, offer high capacity, optimised firmware, and a reliability workload rating of hundreds of terabytes per year.

Read more...
A passport to offline backups
SMART Security Solutions Technews Publishing Editor's Choice Infrastructure Smart Home Automation
SMART Security Solutions tested a 6 TB WD My Passport and found it is much more than simply another portable hard drive when considering the free security software the company includes with the device.

Read more...










While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to have been cleared for publication. Advertisements and company contact details are published as provided by the advertiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.




© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd. | All Rights Reserved.