Find the ‘Why’: What Is This Network Upgrade Accomplishing?
There’s no denying that the speed and density improvements offered by the latest wireless standards, Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7, are significant. Both standards introduce new frequency bands to decrease interference and allow for greater density, and each offers a significant increase in the maximum available speed, especially compared with Wi-Fi 5.
Still, Wi-Fi 5 does offer enough connectivity and speed for faculty, students and staff to accomplish basic tasks — for example, interacting with a learning management system, connecting to collaboration software or recording lectures — which should not tax the network. In some places, such as community colleges where students pay significantly less tuition, and cost and efficiency are the primary factors in decision-making, Wi-Fi 5 might be perfectly acceptable.
For universities trying to stand out from the competition and those that are asking for a significant financial commitment from their students, however, the standards for connectivity are simply going to be higher. As for anything else, expectations rise as the cost goes up, so at major public four-year institutions, R1 research universities and elite private schools, having to wait even a few seconds for a video to buffer is unacceptable.
It comes down to understanding what the college experience your institution wants to provide looks like, then choosing a Wi-Fi standard that allows that experience to happen. If you’re looking to compete for cutting-edge research grants, deliver seamless hybrid and asynchronous instruction, or allow students to learn in an immersive virtual reality space, network modernization should be near the top of the list of institutional priorities. If not, there’s less urgency to move forward with such a large capital expenditure.
RELATED: Get your higher education infrastructure AI-ready.
Consider Everything a Network Upgrade Will Entail
There’s a lot that goes into upgrading a higher education network, and along with the price tag, there is a significant amount of planning needed before any project can get off the ground.
In a perfect world, a network upgrade would start with a thorough understanding of the wireless network currently in place and the usage patterns throughout campus. A service such as CDW’s network assessment and site survey can do that and more; for example, developing a plan for the different needs of various buildings and, just as important, what existing technology can remain. That will then inform the recommended placement of access points, determine when cabling upgrades are needed and bring the right campus stakeholders to the table. Those stakeholders should include procurement teams, facilities staff and leaders on the academic side who have a deep understanding of teaching-related technology needs, among others.
Once the assessment is completed, universities should compile a shopping list and start to create policies for the new network. One way to determine those policies is by asking questions:
- What type of identity and access management tools should be incorporated and where?
- How, if at all, should the network be segmented?
- How will the university gain visibility into (and manage devices connecting to) the network?
- Is purchasing best-in-breed tools the approach needed, or is a more comprehensive platform through a single vendor a better choice?
- Which of the latest technologies, especially those using some type of automation and artificial intelligence, should the university invest in?
Next comes planning for the upgrade itself. It will take time, and it is inevitable that some degree of network disruption will occur. Picking the right time of year to take the network (or parts of it) offline should be part of the planning process.
Eventually, network modernization will need to happen at some degree on every campus as the need continues to rise, and having an experienced technology partner with the highest level of expertise can make the difference in keeping campuses connected.
This article is part of EdTech: Focus on Higher Education’s UniversITy blog series.
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