Cisco Cisco Wireless Control System Version 4.0 Leaflet
Customer Case Study
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Major University Meets Students’ Wireless Needs
The University of New Mexico deploys a Unified Wireless Network on its main campus.
Business Challenge
Founded in 1889, The University of New Mexico is a
major public university in Albuquerque. UNM offers
bachelors, masters, doctoral, and professional
degrees in a multitude of areas, including world-
renowned programs in engineering and rural
medicine. A bastion of modernity in the Old West,
the university’s main campus spans more than 600
acres in the heart of the city, along historical
Route 66.
Lately, UNM has faced an issue that has become
commonplace among universities trying to woo new
students—the fact that, for most college-bound
young Americans, Wi-Fi access is not just a
convenience or a privilege; it is an entitlement and
expectation. Although individual academic
departments at UNM have hosted small wireless
LANs in their respective departments for several
years, the school’s IT department recognized a
need for ubiquitous Wi-Fi service for the student
body. For the IT staff, a lack of centralized
management made it almost impossible to keep
track of all the wireless network activity on campus,
which posed potential security threats.
“Historically we had not had funding to enhance the
network or deploy wireless services centrally,” says
Paula Loendorf, director of information technology services at the University. “I would say that we
had been behind other universities when it came to wireless.”
Funding arrived from an unexpected source. Each year, the New Mexico Educators Federal Credit
Union hosts an account enrollment for students at UNM. The event generally takes place in the
fall, right outside of the campus Student Union Building (known as “the SUB”). Reasoning that
more students would congregate outside the SUB if there were Wi-Fi access there, the credit
union donated US$750,000 toward a wireless network that would provide network access near the
SUB—and in other popular campus areas.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO
●
Higher Education
●
Albuquerque, New Mexico
●
33,264 students
●
20,210 employees
BUSINESS CHALLENGE
●
Draw new students to the campus with the
promise of better Wi-Fi access
●
Build a new wireless network with a limited
budget
●
Easily manage that network
●
Encourage students to congregate near the
Student Union Building, in order to boost
student enrollment in the campus credit union
student enrollment in the campus credit union
NETWORK SOLUTION
●
A Cisco Unified Wireless Network provides
centralized management and troubleshooting
●
Strategically placed access points provide Wi-
Fi access in key indoor and outdoor locations
throughout the main campus
throughout the main campus
●
Separate Service Set Identifiers for students
and guests help ensure secure network access
●
A Web portal provides advertising for the New
Mexico Educators Federal Credit Union
BUSINESS RESULTS
●
The promise of wireless access is expected to
attract new students
●
Realizing the benefits of Wi-Fi is expected to
encourage further network funding from
additional sources
additional sources
●
Students now spend more time near the
Student Union Building, where the credit union
conducts business
conducts business