Cisco Cisco Wireless Control System Version 4.0 Folheto

Customer Case Study

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

University of Twente University of Twente

●

Higher education

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Enschede, The Netherlands

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2000 employees; 8000 students

CHALLENGE

●

Facilitate research and education processes

by providing mobile network and Internet
access

●

Increase capacity of existing wireless network

to support the growing number of users,
devices, and high-bandwidth applications

SOLUTION

●

800 wireless access points provide campus-

wide wireless connectivity, enhancing student
collaboration and enabling interactive teaching
methods

●

Security and guest access features provide

separate VLANs for students, faculty, research
groups, and guests and support eduroam
system

●

802.11n access points deployed in high-traffic

study hall provided test pilot for the university’s
migration path

BUSINESS RESULTS

●

Wireless network helped reinforce university’s

leadership position

●

Mobility enables university to attract more

students and continue to improve the quality of
education

●

802.11n access points provide five to six times

faster speeds with greater reliability than
university’s existing a/b/g network

Dutch University Takes Wireless Lead in Europe

University of Twente grows one of the first and largest wireless networks in Europe with Cisco’s 802.11n

access points.

Challenge

Founded in 1961, the University of Twente (UT) is an entrepreneurial

research university offering a broad educational curriculum and world-

class research programs. Degree programs at the university range

from business studies and applied physics to biomedical technology

and psychology. Research in the applied sciences includes

nanotechnology, engineering, and biomedical sciences. With a large

international student body, UT teaches its postgraduate programs in

English and is the only university in the country with a residential

campus. The university has also created 600 spin-off companies, more

than any other higher-education institution in The Netherlands.

“Providing a strong and flexible technology infrastructure is crucial to

supporting the leading work of our students, employees, and

researchers,” says Jan Markslag, the network team leader at the

university.

In 2003, the University of Twente decided to improve its network

services by providing mobile access. “We wanted to facilitate the

educational and research processes for students and faculty by giving

them access to server-based applications, as well as the Internet, from

wherever they were on campus,” says Markslag. A long-time Cisco

customer, the university chose to deploy Cisco wireless access points

to provide campus-wide wireless connectivity throughout its 60

educational and research facilities. With the easy and constant

availability of the network, the number of educational applications and

mobile users grew rapidly, increasing the demand for more bandwidth.

“It became clear that we needed a way to increase the capacity of the wireless network to support the growing

number of users, devices, and high-bandwidth applications,” says Jan Freerk Popma, network manager at the

University of Twente.

Solution

Before the initial deployment of the wireless network in 2003, the University of Twente evaluated ten different

providers. Once the evaluation process was complete, the university deployed 800 Cisco Aironet

access points to

provide indoor and outdoor coverage across its campus. “We chose Cisco because it was the only vendor to support

multiple VLANs and IEEE 802.1x security,” says Markslag.

As a result of the wireless network deployment, the university developed several laptop-based study programs for

courses such as industrial design. Mobile access to the academic network and the Internet enables students to

participate in interactive meetings and collaborate by sharing documents and applications while the students are in

motion on campus. Professors use the wireless network for calculation and simulation environments, team teaching,