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Meru 802.11n Wireless Implementation

Explore Morrisville State College's upgrade to 802.11n wireless technology in collaboration with Meru Networks, providing faster speed, expanded coverage, and improved manageability across the campus environment. This comprehensive implementation aimed to meet the evolving technological needs of students and faculty, integrating advanced solutions for a more efficient and seamless wireless experience.

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Meru 802.11n Wireless Implementation

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  1. Morrisville State College Meru 802.11n Wireless Implementation

  2. Morrisville State College 802.11n Wireless with Meru Net@EDU February 10, 2008 Matt Barber, Network Analyst, Morrisville Jean Boland, Vice President for Technology Services, Morrisville

  3. Morrisville State College • Part of the State University of New York • Comprised of 64 Colleges and Universities • 3,300 Students Enrolled at Morrisville • Approximately 1,750 students live in on-campus residence halls • Over 70 Academic Programs with 140 Faculty • Offer Bachelor and Associate Degrees • - Health, Aquaculture, Equine, Business, Info Tech, Hospitality, Architectural Technology, Engineering Technology, Natural Resource Conservation, Automotive Technology, Biology

  4. Academics Applied Business Entrepreneurialism TECHNOLOGY Our Vision Statement “Morrisville State College aspires to be an academically challenging , business-oriented, technology-focused entrepreneurial learning community.”

  5. Morrisville State College • Technology Strategy • 1998 – Mobile Computing: • ThinkPad University • 1999 – Nomadic Learning: Wireless Campus • 2003 – Continuous Communication: Nextel Cell • Phone for Every Residential Student Phases I, II, III

  6. Why Mobility? • More than two-thirds • of the U.S. workforce • will be mobile workers • (CTIA Daily News, July 2002) • Drucker predicts that by 2020 • fewer than half of working • people will be employed • by others in a classic way • Students can study and learn at the • location best for them…anywhere, anytime learning To better prepare our students

  7. Morrisville Former Wireless • Installed in the Fall of 1999 • Raytheon Raylink 802.11 FHSS • 2 Mbps shared • Over 300 Raylink Access Points (APs) installed • One set of drivers; One PCMCIA card • MS Vista will not support • End of life product – purchasing existing supply • Student complaints of slowness Wireless is only access in dorm rooms

  8. The Morrisville Environment • Upgraded Enterasys Network in Summer 2005 • - GigE backbone • - Gigabit switches • in the closets • Fiber Backbone • Former Cabling • - 270 cat5 / cat5e cables to wireless APs • - Approximately 100 cat6 cables to wireless APs • 43 buildings with about 1.9 million square feet Morrisville Campus and Norwich Campus

  9. What We Were Looking For • Increased speed • Expanded coverage area • Easy to manage • Product lifespan of 5 to 7 years • Support for multiple operating systems • Support for typical student devices 2007 Wireless Upgrade

  10. Why We Selected 802.11n • Speed, speed, speed • Increased coverage • over 802.11b or g • Expected product lifespan • Most fiscally responsible • decision for us • Validated by Wi-Fi Alliance • certification of 802.11n products Is 802.11a/b/g nearing end of life?

  11. Why We Selected Meru • Availability of 802.11n • Single Channel • Ability to easily add an access point to plug a coverage hole • Client load balancing between APs • Good for large lecture halls Selected IBM as our integrator

  12. Why We Selected Meru, cont. • Virtual Cell • Time management of RF traffic • Each client gets equal access to the AP • Radio “talk time” is equally shared among all clients on an access point • Lowest common denominator effect is • is minimized

  13. Testing of Existing Cable • Cat 5 and 5e Cable Testing • to insure operability at gigabit Ethernet speed • 270 cables tested • 1 cable replaced • Excellent Results • All cable runs were less than 200 feet nfrastructure hired for all cabling

  14. Site Survey • EZ-RF Coverage Planner – done for 5 GHz 802.11a • RF Predictive Modeling • Physical Site Survey • Findings: • Greater coverage between floors, outdoors and overall • Fewer APs needed than expected Originally expected 900 Aps to be installed

  15. August Implementation for Start of School • Cabling • 400 new cat6 cables • Access Point Installation • 710 Meru AP 150’s • 10 Meru AP 320’s • Six new switch installations • for additional ports • Added new locations, such • as football field, equine barns Both a/b/g APs and a/b/g/n APs installed

  16. In August, Meru 802.11n Deployment • 10 Meru AP 320’s • Each AP with • one b/g/n radio • one a/n radio • Using Power over Ethernet (PoE) • Existing 802.3af standard (15 watts) • 2 X 2 antenna configuration In Mustang Alley

  17. From Our Students It is really fast in Mustang Alley (where Meru 802.11n is), but it is so slow everywhere else! 802.11g is slow?? Changing Expectations…

  18. Clients • Lenovo T61 laptops have internal • 2.4 / 5 GHz 802.11n wireless • Legacy Lenovo laptops • Internal a/b/g wireless • 2.4 GHz 802.11n USB adapter • Desktops • 2.4 GHz 802.11 b/g USB adapter • 2.4 GHz 802.11n USB adapter 5 GHz 802.11n USB adapters were not yet available…

  19. Chariot Download – Comparison between 11n and 11g 11n showed 800% better performance than 11g. From Lenovo Done by 3rd Party Test Lab “Quality Partners”

  20. From Morrisville Client Time Test Results

  21. Lessons Learned • Moved from a homogeneous to a heterogeneous • client wireless environment • one wireless driver to many • one wireless adapter to many • Up-to-date wireless driver is critical • Power management on laptops, • must be set to “maximum performance” • and NOT to “maximum battery life” • Can turn OFF internal wireless; erratic results Clients, clients, clients…

  22. In October, Total Meru 802.11n Installation • All 720 APs are Meru dual • radio 802.11n AP 320’s • b/g/n in 2.4 GHz • a/n in 5 GHz • Replacement of a/b/g APs • with a/b/g/n APs took • 2 people only 1 week • Still using Power over Ethernet (15 watts) Campus Wide Meru 802.11n Wireless

  23. Statistics To Date • In our 5th month of using 720 Meru 802.11n APs: • 802.11n wireless coverage of 43 buildings and • 1.9 million square feet • All classrooms, all buildings, all parking lots, and • ancillary spaces; equine barns, football field, etc. • Over 1,500 simultaneous users at peak usage • Connection Speeds of up to 300Mbps

  24. Equine Breeding & Training Center “Mister Ed” theme song, by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans

  25. Our Dashboard

  26. Additional Devices Supported • Opened up support for portable and gaming devices • Added over 60 devices in first month • Currently have over 110 portable and gaming devices on wireless • Now supporting student iPod Touches, Sony PSPs, Playstation 3s, Xbox 360s, Nintendo Wiis, and iPhones

  27. What is Next for Client Adapters? • Dual band 802.11a/b/g/n client adapters • want to move as many clients as possible to 5 GHz 802.11n • Linksys WPC600N PCMCIA card on site • Linksys WUSB600N USB on order • Netgear WNDA3100 USB available in March

  28. What is Next for Power? • Testing SNMP Manageable Power Injectors • draft IEEE 802.3at standard (30 watts) • for 3 x 3 antenna configuration • will look at increased wireless experience and determine if the power injectors are worth the cost • Could stay with PoE • (15 watts) and 2 x 2 • antenna configuration • Could purchase Phihong • or Microsemi power injectors 802.3af (15 watts) or 802.3at (30 watts)?

  29. 802.11n “LIVE” at Morrisville Student Candids

  30. What our students have to say Nicholas Scholl, a senior at Morrisville State College: About Meru’s 802.11n wireless

  31. What our students have to say Christopher Perch, a freshman at Morrisville State College: About Meru’s 802.11n wireless

  32. We are creating a marketable difference for our students at Morrisville. With laptops, cell phones, and now 802.11n wireless, our students are ready to enter and be productive in the mobile workforce. Mobility at Morrisville

  33. Morrisville 802.11n Wireless QUESTIONS????

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