Wifi in classrooms

UW Wifi

The UW campus wireless system is built with technology from Aruba Networks.  There are approximately 1,000 Access Points (APs) in the main buildings and 600 APs in housing locations.

Most campus building use 802.11 b/g, whereas new buildings (e.g. E5) use a/b/g/n, which allows for higher speeds and more channels which can be used with more APs to address more concurrent clients.

Usually each AP can service 10 people well, up to a practical maximum of 20 concurrent users before service becomes too degraded.  To plan the numbers and placement of APs, the intended use of space is considered.

For low density usage, such as offices, 1 AP per 6,000 square foot is about the minimum density and was the standard density used for most of campus as Wifi was not initially used extensively.  To achieve higher density of clients, APs can be moved closer together.  APs function best when each has about 2,000 or more square feet of coverage.

Larger teaching classrooms can hold 120 students or more.  In most cases, we cannot accommodate everyone using a laptop concurrently with the existing deployment.  To make the rooms usable requires multiple APs, one for each group of 20 users packed in 300 square feet.  The approximate cost is $50 per seat assuming 20 users per AP at $1000 for conduit, cabling, AP, etc.

IST is responsible for Wifi.  They know coverage is inadequate in numerous locations based on complaints from users.  You can leave messages about wireless at http://ist.uwaterloo.ca/request

Exciting new technologies using Wifi will help us engage students in the coming years.  That is not fully possible with the current coverage.  But, of course, until the facilities exist it is frustrating to impossible to try these technologies, so they must be a priority.

As always, Email me if you have comments or questions.  erick@uwaterloo.ca