Waking up to a wireless LAN

Talk of the recent presidential debate hosted by the university is not the only thing in the air at Wake Forest University. A new wireless LAN network is sending signals across campus, giving students and staff untethored access to the collegiate Ethernet.

A wireless infrastructure designed by Symbol Technologies Inc. delivers a 2 Mb/s connection into the university's existing Ethernet, building on the embedded investment (see Figure). Antenna-bearing access points that connect directly to the Ethernet are distributed throughout the campus to provide connective in nearly every classroom.

Wireless LAN trial
Last spring, students participated in a two-month trial of the program that was officially launched in the fall. These test pilots provided the Wake Forest communications and IT team with information about where they most frequently accessed the wireless LAN. That data along with a list of areas that are most difficult to wire were used to create a coverage plan.

Symbol provided the transceivers and the PCMCIA interface cards used in the ThinkPads, and software program to manage the system.

"We simply provided the university with an end-to-end solution guaranteeing them a minimum level of throughput in jointly agreed upon areas of campus," said Harry Lerner, Symbol vice president of education, health care, and hospitality. "The university doesn't need to worry about the specifics of how to manage the network because Symbol provides unique network management software."

Coverage issues
Although coverage is widely dispersed in indoor and outdoor areas, dead spots still exist.

"The biggest challenge for us has been pure (campus) infrastructure of dealing with walls, shelves and boards," said Tommy Jackson, Wake Forest director of telecommunications. "We are talking about a campus that was built in the late ‘40s or early ‘50s, the Cold War period. All of these older buildings have very, very thick walls. It is very difficult to get the kind of coverage that we would like with a minimum number of access points. So, there might be outer edges of the building that have zero coverage or poor coverage.

"It's a challenge to identify where those locations are. We were making sure that we communicate appropriately to the students who were living in those areas that, while on paper we might have coverage in a building, when it comes down to it, it might be very poor performance, and they may not be satisfied."

The fortress design was not the only stumbling block. Another awaited in one of the most high-traffic areas: the library.

"In the library, there are a lot of books, which absorb the signal," Jackson said. "It is an open area with a lot of metal shelves and the signal wasn't making it as far as it was suppose to. On paper, it looks like you can put in an access point to cover 2,000 square feet, and then you get there, and it doesn't quite work. You end up having to put another access point in or back out of offering that high-level service in those areas."

Technology program
Wake Forest officially stepped into the communications age in 1996 when it began its technology initiative. As part of the effort, students receive an IBM ThinkPad laptop computer and a printer, which links to the Ethernet via an RJ-11 connector. The cost of this equipment and use of the Ethernet is included in student fees. The new wireless option, however, is a subscription service that costs $80 per semester or $140 per year.

Senior Ryan Scholl was part of the spring test, but decided not to purchase the service when it was offered in the fall because of the cost. Scholl was pleased, however, with how well the network supports multimedia. He put the system through its paces by helping the physics faculty edit videotape from classes, which he then put online for all the students' use.

"I would use my computer to edit a lot of stuff wherever I was," Scholls said. "It turned into an amazing project. "People from all over the world were hitting this page."

Battery life limitations
Just as in the early days of cellular service, the limited battery supply restricts the subscribers' wireless freedom.

"The battery did die every so often," he said. "It's about a two-hour battery. I carried around a charger. That was one downside. When the battery got low, I would have to go somewhere to find an outlet. And usually near all the outlets, there are Internet jacks. But if I was using it for an hour or two at a time, the wireless card was phenomenal."

Limited battery life increases the frequency at which students switch from the wireless environment to wired access. Unfortunately, the conversion can be cumbersome.

"One of the biggest problems is that it is not ubiquitous wireless access," Jackson said. "Because every location on campus does not have wireless access, there is a need for students to disable the wireless card and go back to their LAN card. That requires an IP address, removal of card, inserting of card and sometimes rebooting the machine. It becomes somewhat burdensome at times."

Future improvements
As with the evolution of cellular phones, the wireless LAN apparatus is likely to streamline as the demand for cordless data increases. The corporate desire for such connectivity will fuel the flames of motivation for manufacturers to create long-life batteries in small-sized packages.

"The biggest benefit is I can go anywhere in this building and use it," said Nancy Crouch, Wake Forest director of technology outreach. "So when we have meetings, I just take it with me. I can print from there, e-mail people directly and follow-up on things right from the meeting. You don't have to go back to your desk with a long list of ‘to dos.' We don't have to hook up and string cords across the room and then find a jack. Everybody just puts their ThinkPad on the table and it works."

About the author
Pat Blake is a freelance writer based in Cedar Rapids, IA. She can be reached at B814@aol.com.