Motorola Wireless Solution Provides Campus-Wide Wi-Fi Coverage

SCHAUMBURG, Ill.
Published: March 27, 2009

Motorola, Inc. today announced that Scientel Wireless, a technology services company and member of Motorola’s PartnerSelect program, has deployed a campus-wide Motorola wireless network at Lewis University, a private Catholic and Lasallian university located in Romeoville, Ill. Motorola’s latest Mesh, Point-to-Multipoint (PMP), wireless LAN (WLAN) and Motorola AirDefense wireless security technologies are delivering cost-effective, reliable and secure broadband coverage from the classrooms to outdoor sporting arenas to the Lewis University airport.

“In today’s competitive, quickly evolving educational environment, it is crucial to provide high-speed wireless Internet access in every part of the campus,” said Brother James Gaffney, FSC, president, Lewis University.

“Having a reliable and secure Wi-Fi network both indoor and outdoor has enabled our faculty and students to work and study in a different way. They no longer have to be tethered to a wired connection, making it easier to meet in study groups, quickly connect with faculty members or access information online,” adds John Dalby, chief information technology officer, Lewis University.

The growing need for faster, more advanced applications and the demand from incoming students for high-speed Internet access made Lewis University quickly realize it had outgrown its existing wireless network capabilities. The lack of campus-wide coverage and serious network reliability problems meant faculty and students were limited in how they could research, share and distribute information. Together with Scientel Wireless, the university’s IT department made the decision to take the network in a new technology direction by completely redesigning the wireless infrastructure across campus. Lewis University’s new wireless network meets its current and future needs, providing both indoor and outdoor service for data, video and voice applications and serves as a secondary redundant network in case its wired infrastructure goes down.

——Article Continues Below——

Get the latest industry news and research delivered directly to your inbox.

“To meet Lewis University’s requirements and ensure reliable service within a tough radio frequency (RF) environment around the airport and campus, we recommended a purpose-built wireless network from Motorola,” said Nelson Santos, executive vice president for Scientel Wireless. “By leveraging Motorola’s network design tools and field-proven wireless networking technologies, we were able to reduce the previous outdoor infrastructure by 50 percent and the indoor WLAN infrastructure by 30 percent, while extending coverage to new areas across the entire campus. In fact, network utilization has quadrupled since the deployment.”

Scientel Wireless needed to combine several wireless networking technologies to meet the university’s requirements while lowering the network’s overall footprint. Motorola’s LANPlanner and MeshPlanner network design tools enabled Scientel Wireless to accurately predict and test the network prior to deployment. For WLAN indoor coverage in buildings, classrooms and residence halls, Lewis University selected Motorola’s AP300 access ports and 802.11n AP-7131 access points, managed by the award-winning RFS6000 wireless switches. Motorola Mesh nodes were deployed to handle outdoor wireless coverage in common areas and sporting arenas across campus. The network also leverages Motorola’s PMP 100 series wireless access solution for connectivity between buildings, mesh hot spots and the Lewis University airport, while Motorola AirDefense wireless security solutions protect the network from data breaches.

The result is a seamless all-wireless campus solution that delivers reliable and secure high-speed Internet access to the university community while also serving to help keep it safer by supporting several campus safety applications like video surveillance. And, the university is already looking to leverage the network for future applications, including remote control of heat, ventilation, air conditioning and lighting, or outfitting security cars with cameras and laptops for better situational awareness and communications with the Village of Romeoville police and fire departments.

“Lewis University’s wireless network deployment is a true testament to the evolution of wireless networking technologies, which today offer a cost-effective, reliable and secure alternative to traditional wired approaches,” said Scott French, MSSI vice president and senior sales director, Motorola Emerging Technologies and Solutions. “Motorola’s innovative wireless solutions are helping educational institutions around the world, like Lewis University, to improve the learning and teaching experience for students and faculty alike, while enabling IT staff to maximize and extend their IT infrastructure.”

Motorola offers a comprehensive portfolio of wireless solutions designed to enable the truly wireless enterprise – from large enterprises with locations all over the world to branch offices and small businesses. Delivering wireless coverage both indoor and outdoor – Motorola’s innovative wireless enterprise portfolio includes fixed broadband, mesh, enterprise wireless LAN and Motorola AirDefense wireless security solutions. With time-proven resiliency, security and performance equal to or greater than that of a wired networ k, Motorola’s solutions substantially reduce network deployment and maintenance costs, and ensure the availability of cost-effective wireless connectivity in every corner of the enterprise. The result is the truly wireless enterprise – offering full mobility at a fraction of the cost of a traditional wired network.

Revenue relating to this transaction has been recorded in previous periods.

For additional information, click here.

Motorola March 2009 press release.

Posted in: News

Tagged with:

ADVERTISEMENT
Strategy & Planning Series
Strategy & Planning Series
Strategy & Planning Series
Strategy & Planning Series
Strategy & Planning Series