1. Cell and Wifi Service Bruce Campbell Director, Network Services Information Systems and Technology January 18, 2011

2. Cell Service Generally, responsibility left to providers (e.g. Bell, Rogers). Minimal involvement from UW so far. Boosters installed in a few locations (MC first floor, RCH 101) RFP for pilot project “Distributed Antenna System” for MKV residence issued. See October 20, 2010 Daily Bulletin October 20, 2010 Daily Bulletin

3. Wifi Wifi offered in all UW buildings, except some College residences. Aruba Networks system. Aruba Networks Approximately 1,000 Access Points (APs) in main campus buildings, and 600 APs in Housing residences. New buildings (e.g. E5) are a/b/g/n Residences are a/b/g Most campus buildings are b/g

4. Coverage Planning By square foot, for low density areas (offices) – e.g. 1 AP per 6,000 square foot is about minimum By user, for high density areas (common areas) – e.g. 1 AP per 10-20 people provides basic service. Most areas of campus were done based on square foot, before wifi was popular (years ago). (6000 square feet per AP) Residence deployment based on people, approx 1 AP per 10 residents.

5. Some Coverage Problem Areas Libraries, during exams Large lecture rooms Math lounge

6. Expansion Approximately 400 APs have been added on main campus in past two years. (includes new buildings) Upgrading DC, LIB and SLC to a/b/g/n (from b/g) (100 APs, on order) 4 new a/b/g/n APs for Math C&D and lounge 2 new a/b/g/n APs for MC 1085 (class room)

7. Lecture Rooms Most lecture rooms will not support all seats active on wifi. Design challenge: – 1 AP per 20 people – Example lecture room 40’x60’ = 2400 square feet, 160 seats. – 8 APs in 2400 square feet = 300 square feet per AP – Far less than general minimum of 2000 square feet per b/g AP. – Requires many channels or very low power settings, and APs close to users (under desks) In PHR 1004 (160 seats) we installed 6 b/g APs, and it is adequate for light use by fewer than full 160 people. Cost of conduit, APs, cabling, for large lecture rooms is about $50/seat ($1000 for conduit, cabling, plus AP, serves 20 people). E.g. 700 seats = $35,000

8. Response Still trying to catch up with demand. Still somewhat reactive. We address issues after the fact. Some proactive monitoring with tools. Identifies high density areas. IST Client Services co-op student visits areas of campus and reports real world experience. Planning to deploy an online forum to allow users to share experience, knowledge about specific devices. Allows IST to pick up on sources of frustration, problem areas.

9. eduroam Useable at participating institutions Data is encrypted uw-wireless subject to session hijacking for non https sites (e.g. facebook) eduroam easier to use for modern operating systems. Old operating systems and some devices have troubles.