University of Florida Chooses Cisco for its World Class Wireless Program

Whether it’s a hotel, a dorm or any situation where a large number of people are living under one roof, making sure that the wireless network is fast and reliant can be a tall task. This is especially true in a university setting where young people and their multitudes of devices are crammed into a setting where the network is being used for both work and play.

Until recently, the University of Florida knew all about the stories of slow connections in their dorms.

Like a lot of universities, UF received low marks from its students when it came to Wi-Fi accessibility in their rooms. Wireless internet was only guaranteed in common areas and students demanded the same service in their rooms. The UF IT department heard the students’ pleas and began an initiative called “World Class Wireless”. World Class Wireless aimed to deliver “exceptional, consistent signal strength and data transfer rates in every resident room”. In other words, they wanted the speed and reliability of a wireless network but without the hassle of wires.

Naturally when the University thought of “World Class Wireless”, their immediate thought was Cisco. When creating a wireless network infrastructure this big—the first section of the program was to deploy the solutions in four dorms before outfitting the rest of the campus’ student housing—the UF IT department chose the Cisco Aironet 1810W Access Points to handle the heavy lifting. With an 1810W in every room, this meant that students were able to access the internet from their own room at amazing speeds. How fast? UF techs were quoted as saying that speeds “exceeded the standards” in terms of signal strength and the students have been happy about the new network.

With the four residence halls in the pilot program deemed a success, the University is expanding the “World Class Wireless” program campus-wide in the coming semesters.

For more information on this project, please click here.