Western Sydney Uni to build smart Wi-Fi network

Western Sydney University has selected Ruckus Wireless to roll out a smart Wi-Fi network across all of the university’s campuses.

The network will span the university’s locations in Bankstown, Blacktown, Campbelltown, Hawkesbury, Parramatta, Penrith and Lithgow.

The university picked Ruckus Wireless through a tender offer. Ruckus value-added reseller BigAir supported the bid.

Ruckus will deploy a network that includes new 802.11ac wave 2 wireless access points.

The wave 2 standard supports new Wi-Fi enhancements such as multiuser multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) technology, which allows given access points the ability to handle a much larger number of concurrent climates.

Western Sydney University Chief Information and Digital Officer Kerry Holling said the university considers mobile networking to be one of the two most important technologies employed at its campuses.

“Mobility networking, or Wi-Fi, needs to deliver far more than just coverage and connectivity for the university. It is the key enabler for delivering the leading user experience for all of our community — students, researchers, academics and staff,” he said.

“We see this engagement as a technology partnership rather than a single project, and we expect the selected solution provider will work with the university to explore further possibilities and offerings that can be delivered for the benefit of both parties.”

Underlining this focus on mobility, the university recently announced plans to provide 5000 Microsoft Surface 3 tablets to students commencing this year as part of a strategy aiming to foster innovation and industry alignment.

Image courtesy of Kārlis Dambrāns under CC