UF Housing Alumni Magazine Fall 2016 | Page 7

WORLD CLASS WIRELESS: " A LEVEL OF EXCEPTIONAL, CONSISTENT SIGNAL STRENGTH AND DATA TRANSFER RATES IN EVERY RESIDENT ROOM." World Class Wireless Defined We defined world class wireless service as a level of exceptional, consistent signal strength and data transfer rates in every resident room, with a reliability comparable to Ethernet connections. Prior to this plan, wireless was only guaranteed in common areas and lounges. Although some residents could access the wireless in some rooms, Ethernet was the recommended choice for students to have a more reliable connection. Achieving this level of wireless service in all of our resident rooms would require multiple components such as prioritizing the IT budget, a thorough network design, a highly available and redundant network infrastructure, a well-defined support process for service interruptions, and support for popular media devices. As well, it included the support of senior leadership (Director of Technology for Student Affairs, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, Vice President for Student Affairs, and Vice President and Chief Information Officer for the University of Florida) and coordination with Maintenance and RLE staff. The Cisco 1810W was the model chosen for the in-room access points (APs). Guaranteed service World class wireless also inherently meant that the service was to be guaranteed in each resident room. We w