Cisco Cisco Prime Infrastructure 1.2 Information Guide
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Customer Name:
University of New South
Wales Australia
Industry:
Higher Education
Location:
Australia
Potential users:
55,000 Students, Faculty,
and Staff
Challenge
• Provide free Wi-Fi across campus and in
student accommodations
• Minimize cost of future upgrades
• Improve facilities planning
• Improve facilities planning
Solution
• Cisco wireless access points with support for
new 802.11ac standard
• Compact, low-cost Cisco wireless access
points for student accommodations
• Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences (CMX)
to collect and analyze location information
Results
• Delivered great user experience for 55,000
people using 168,000 devices
• Prepared to introduce “flipped” learning
• Improved facilities planning by capturing
• Improved facilities planning by capturing
information about students’ paths across
campus
campus
Challenges
Visit the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Australia campus and you’ll see
students watching video lectures before class on their mobile devices. Socializing
with classmates using mobile social applications. Enjoying video calls with family on
the other side of the world while sitting outdoors.
UNSW is one of Australia’s leading research and teaching universities. It enrolls
more than 50,000 students, from more than 120 countries. The campus Wi-Fi
network, UniWide, is a source of pride. “Today’s students grew up in a connected
world, and demand for Wi-Fi is massive,” says Greg Sawyer, infrastructure manager
for UNSW. “We consider our network an asset for attracting students, and for
teaching and research.”
By 2012, UniWide covered most of the 94-acre campus, using 1800 Cisco wireless
access points. “Mobile device use was doubling every year or two, so we needed
more access points,” says Sawyer. Students who own smartphones, tablets, and
laptops with the latest wireless standard expect faster performance. That meant the
wireless network had to support the new 802.11ac standard.
UNSW also wanted to provide free Wi-Fi in new student accommodations, which
house 2500 students. Most universities charge a fee for Wi-Fi in residence halls to
offset costs. But UNSW has been offering free Wi-Fi since 2007 and considers it an
advantage in attracting students. So the access points had to be low-cost.
The university’s plans for Wi-Fi went beyond web and email. One idea was using
the network to gather information for planning. Knowing how students walked across
campus would help the facilities department decide where to add new cafes and
convenience stores, for example.
Another idea was making processes more efficient by allowing different campus
systems to talk to each other. When a video surveillance camera sensed a large
crowd, for example, it could tell the lighting system to turn on lights. “Harnessing the
power of the ‘Internet of Things’ requires a reliable and scalable network,” says Sam
Costello, manager of facilities systems strategy and delivery for UNSW.
students watching video lectures before class on their mobile devices. Socializing
with classmates using mobile social applications. Enjoying video calls with family on
the other side of the world while sitting outdoors.
UNSW is one of Australia’s leading research and teaching universities. It enrolls
more than 50,000 students, from more than 120 countries. The campus Wi-Fi
network, UniWide, is a source of pride. “Today’s students grew up in a connected
world, and demand for Wi-Fi is massive,” says Greg Sawyer, infrastructure manager
for UNSW. “We consider our network an asset for attracting students, and for
teaching and research.”
By 2012, UniWide covered most of the 94-acre campus, using 1800 Cisco wireless
access points. “Mobile device use was doubling every year or two, so we needed
more access points,” says Sawyer. Students who own smartphones, tablets, and
laptops with the latest wireless standard expect faster performance. That meant the
wireless network had to support the new 802.11ac standard.
UNSW also wanted to provide free Wi-Fi in new student accommodations, which
house 2500 students. Most universities charge a fee for Wi-Fi in residence halls to
offset costs. But UNSW has been offering free Wi-Fi since 2007 and considers it an
advantage in attracting students. So the access points had to be low-cost.
The university’s plans for Wi-Fi went beyond web and email. One idea was using
the network to gather information for planning. Knowing how students walked across
campus would help the facilities department decide where to add new cafes and
convenience stores, for example.
Another idea was making processes more efficient by allowing different campus
systems to talk to each other. When a video surveillance camera sensed a large
crowd, for example, it could tell the lighting system to turn on lights. “Harnessing the
power of the ‘Internet of Things’ requires a reliable and scalable network,” says Sam
Costello, manager of facilities systems strategy and delivery for UNSW.
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Customer Case Study