What is the motivation here? I ask because this sounds like a cost thing. It sounds like the President is looking at 3 hefty expenses:
1. Existing fixed line internet service 2. Wifi Upgrades 3. Staff support costs for Wifi services and is hoping to avoid all three of these by switching to an LTE/3G service. Suddenly the bulk of the fixed-line internet bill goes away, you don't have to pay for wifi upgrades, and support issues are just directed to the carrier, instead of institutional IT staff. Personally, I can't imagine the numbers possibly working out in your favor, given what I've seen of carrier LTE rates (even if it is just as a consumer). Pull up your logs and find out how much bandwidth you've used over a period of month. Then find out how much it would cost to purchase that data, and I expect that even the bulk rates will give the President sticker shock and make this whole thing go away. It may also be that cost is a side issue, and it's really about streamlining the student experience... suddenly internet access issues are a carrier issue, and even when students have problems they'll tend to direct their ill-will at the carrier instead of your institution, plus it gives IT the ability to function at a higher level, looking at capabilities and services more than day to day network support. But again, I think the cost here will orders of magnitude over what is expected. The day is coming when this kind of service will make sense, but we're not there yet. And it goes further than just bulk-purchasing LTE data. Just like now most wireless systems tunnel traffic to a controller appliance before terminating it on the university network, someday cellular services will tunnel traffic even from desktop computers to a leased service in the cloud, to create private institutional cellular networks, where none of the network infrastructure resides on campus. But that's a *long* way off yet. Joel Coehoorn Director of Information Technology 402.363.5603 *jcoeho...@york.edu <jcoeho...@york.edu>* The mission of York College is to transform lives through Christ-centered education and to equip students for lifelong service to God, family, and society On Wed, May 13, 2015 at 9:04 AM, Mark Elley <mark.el...@bristol.ac.uk> wrote: > Hi Brian, > > If 3/4G is seriously being considered by senior management then before any > decision is actually taken there should be a serious amount of testing (by > them) - the term 'eating your own dogfood' springs to mind. I can't > imagine using a mifi at home to stream Netflix or to download an Apple > update, especially when the 2.4GHz spectrum will be terribly managed and > the 3/4G network saturated by huge amounts of traffic. If they value > customer satisfaction then there is no option but to invest in wireless > IMHO. > > Good luck with the case. > > Mark Elley > Residential & Mobile IT Manager > IT Services, University of Bristol > > On 13 May 2015 at 14:42, Christopher Michael Allison < > chris.m.alli...@siu.edu> wrote: > >> An article I found about LTE replacing services it isn't wifi but it >> gives a detailed account of how LTE connection was tested. It isn't >> directly related to higher ed applications but it give a good account of >> the impact of congestion on an LTE service. >> >> >> >> http://www.networkworld.com/article/2226079/wireless/how-i-replaced-wired-internet-with-4g-lte.html >> >> >> >> >> CHRISTOPHER ALLISON >> Network Engineer I >> >> Information Technology >> Mail Code 4622 >> 625 Wham Drive >> Carbondale, Illinois 62901 >> >> chris.m.alli...@siu.edu <+chris.m.alli...@siu.edu> >> P: 618 / 453 - 8415 >> F: 618 / 453 - 5261 >> INFOTECH.SIU.EDU <http://infotech.siu.edu/> >> >> >> *"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your >> life."* >> Confucius >> ------------------------------ >> *From:* The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv < >> WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> on behalf of Hunter Fuller < >> hf0...@uah.edu> >> *Sent:* Wednesday, May 13, 2015 8:36 AM >> *To:* WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU >> *Subject:* Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] AW: [WIRELESS-LAN] To provide (wireless) >> service, or not to provide (wireless) service... >> >> >> That sounds extremely painful. I cannot imagine deploying a solution that >> 97+% of laptops cannot use directly. >> >> -- >> Hunter Fuller >> OIT >> >> Sent from my phone. >> On May 13, 2015 8:25 AM, "Brian Helman" <bhel...@salemstate.edu> wrote: >> >>> I have a little more information to provide now. I absolutely >>> appreciate that it will be extremely tempting to respond with biased >>> opinions. I don’t think there is anything that can be said that I haven’t >>> already expressed to my team. However, that will not help me write up my >>> recommendation. So that being said, feel free to chime in with tangible >>> reasons to do this or not… >>> >>> >>> >>> Apparently, our president heard that some schools are investigating >>> purchasing bulk data contracts with mobile (“cellular”) carriers for data. >>> The idea is, we would stop providing 802.11g/n/ac wireless in the residence >>> halls and instead provide students with the abilities to register their >>> devices with the mobile carrier to use 4G/LTE data. The University will >>> pay for this. >>> >>> >>> >>> Pros: >>> >>> No wireless (802.11) to purchase, support >>> >>> Reduced POE requirements on switches >>> >>> No wireless driver/configuration mismatches problems to support >>> >>> >>> >>> Cons: >>> >>> Is mobile wireless signal available everywhere inside the buildings? >>> Costs to improve signal. >>> >>> What speeds are available (what range of speeds)? Is it by user or >>> aggregate? >>> >>> How is congestion handled? >>> >>> What devices – mobile phones only? Hotspots to provide access to >>> non-cellular devices (e.g wifi-only tablets; laptops) >>> >>> More Ethernet ports needed for devices that previously depended on >>> wireless >>> >>> What provider(s)? >>> >>> Support shifted from “device to institutional wifi” to “device to myfi” >>> or “devide to 3rd party” >>> >>> Cost per user, per GB? >>> >>> >>> >>> What else? >>> >>> >>> >>> If you know of any institutions who have attempted this (I have heard >>> MIT is looking at it, but we aren’t MIT), please let me know. >>> >>> >>> >>> By the way, the background here is .. we installed our 802.11n network >>> ~5 years ago and haven’t had any commitment to fund it since. So now we >>> are trying to deal with capacity (BYOD) issues that didn’t exist 5 years >>> ago while upgrading to 11ac. Of course, it’s not a 1:1 swap of equipment >>> since we’d be migrating from 2.4GHz to 2.4+5GHz. That puts the costs for >>> forklift upgrades pretty high (did I mention I’ve been unsuccessfully >>> asking for funding for 3 years?). >>> >>> >>> >>> I believe this can all best be summarized with a simple .. Oy. >>> >>> >>> >>> -Brian >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> *From:* The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto: >>> WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU] *On Behalf Of *Jerkan, Kristijan >>> *Sent:* Sunday, May 03, 2015 12:34 PM >>> *To:* WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU >>> *Subject:* [WIRELESS-LAN] AW: [WIRELESS-LAN] To provide (wireless) >>> service, or not to provide (wireless) service... >>> >>> >>> >>> As a public institution in the EDU sector we always had a byod policy in >>> our dorm network, specifically including „anything You want to connect to >>> the port in Your room“. >>> >>> >>> >>> Parameters: >>> >>> -5k+ dorm rooms (1.8k the largest segment, 20 the smallest) >>> >>> -120km radius >>> >>> -at least one (mostly two) RJ45 port per room (cat5-7 to the switch, >>> fiber afterwards) >>> >>> -10/100MBit ports (deliberatly did not go for 1GBit at the edge) >>> >>> -no additional accounting, just dhcp with opt82 >>> >>> -public ips behind reflexive acl (no shaping, etc.) >>> >>> -uplink via the federal research network >>> >>> -service neutral (whoever wants to can use a DSL provider also/instead >>> and may use the inhouse cable from their basement to their room for it) >>> >>> -one service number (fixed number, forwarded to five cellphones – >>> whoever picks up first wins) >>> >>> -managed by ~10 students (pro bono, but with a couple of incentives) >>> >>> >>> >>> That beeing said, here are a few points why this works for us and is not >>> generally applicable: >>> >>> -people have to work together to archive common goals (state, local, >>> university and dorm administration – technical and administrative staff) >>> >>> -it does not take much to put a service neutral CAT cable into every >>> room while they are beeing built/renovated instead of a cheaper telephone >>> cable, but it does take a joint effort and common goals >>> >>> -to every dorm room there is a rent/contract, so we know who is „behind“ >>> it and can make one specific person liable (opt82) >>> >>> -there are only single-bed rooms (this is a cultural thing and different >>> than in the US, I guess noone around here would even rent a shared room) >>> >>> -almost no dorms are adjacent to the classrooms/labs (seamless wireless >>> coverage/services wouldn’t be possible anyway) >>> >>> -in order to find enough students (5 for the core team) who will do the >>> occasionally needed actual work without payment, a balance between demands >>> and incentives is important >>> >>> >>> >>> Effect: >>> >>> -very low capex and extremly low opex for the dorm network [numbers only >>> off list] >>> >>> -very limited support calls (maybe 2/week; maybe 10-20 during the >>> move-in-phase, mostly students from the states asking about the >>> non-existant login/pw) >>> >>> -no need to worry about deprication charges or every new feature >>> (regarding wireless: ABG to N to AC; MIMO, fequency analysis chipsets; >>> 2.4ghz to 5ghz, wave2) >>> >>> -the least administrative overhead possible >>> >>> -none of the students in our networking team had problems finding jobs >>> after they left (no trouble finding volunteers, very long participation >>> period) >>> >>> -scalabe system; got us from ~1.2k rooms (back in ’99) within a 1km >>> radius to 5k+ (today) in a 120km radius >>> >>> -effective support answers („Yes, You can also attach every AP You want >>> to You port… No, don’t worry, if You are able to understand Your class >>> reading, You will also understand vendor X’s manual…) >>> >>> -no secondary discussions (health, etc.) >>> >>> -plug&play experience for students >>> >>> -ability to consolidate our attention to more interesting projects; we >>> still provide wireless (eduroam), but only in common areas away from the >>> rooms (ALU/Aruba 6000, now 7210, anything between 124s and 270s except the >>> cloud based APs) >>> >>> -over the years we had some (small and larger) dorms outsourced to >>> different (small and large) companies who provided full wireless-only >>> coverage, standard management as well as forbidden private wireless, but as >>> our own model proved technically resiliant and cost-effective time and >>> again, our external partners solutions didn‘t >>> >>> >>> >>> Basically our setup could be exactly what Your administrative >>> staff/board is aiming for. >>> >>> My personal message to them would be to first and foremost take an >>> honest look at how and why things are the way they are. >>> >>> If they just argue out of a mix of intuition and auserity, their good >>> intentions will cause a fail (probably utterly and completely, like many >>> others before). >>> >>> It is possible to run a cost effective plug&play network, with a high >>> satisfaction rate amoung students (EDU did that long before the BYOD >>> marketing hype). But that requires a high level of cooperation (belivers, >>> ideally who themselves lived in dorms and remember how student life can >>> be), common goals, success in overcoming obstacles and also constant >>> vigilance and re-evaluation. >>> >>> From an administrative and oversight point of view this is a lot more >>> and complex work than finding, distributing and approving funds. For >>> various reasons it is also not always something that can be implemented >>> everywhere or sustained for a meaningful period of time. Therefore it is >>> often better to honestly deal with the geographic/personal/political >>> reality and to solve the technical problem with money. >>> >>> Even if Your board would want to, a change towards a system like ours >>> takes time. Your institution should definetly not run on an obsolete >>> wireless infrastructure during that periode (and wear out its staff and >>> cause stir among students in the process). >>> >>> Hope this helps to balance the biased view. ;-) >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Regards, >>> >>> Kris >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> *Von:* The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [ >>> mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU >>> <WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU>] *Im Auftrag von *Brian Helman >>> *Gesendet:* Freitag, 1. Mai 2015 17:23 >>> *An:* WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU >>> *Betreff:* [WIRELESS-LAN] To provide (wireless) service, or not to >>> provide (wireless) service... >>> >>> >>> >>> A few weeks ago we made a pitch for funding to upgrade our res halls to >>> 802.11ac. This request for funding has had an unforeseen effect. I’m not >>> being asked to investigate NOT providing wireless networking in our res >>> halls. Here are the options, as it has been described to me: >>> >>> >>> >>> -No institutional wireless. Let the students bring in their own AP’s >>> >>> -Some kind of managed service (wireless as a service) with 802.11 >>> >>> -Some kind of institutionally owned/leased mobile wireless (e.g we >>> provide our own 4G) >>> >>> -Hybrid >>> >>> -Continue with 802.11n 2.4GHz and fill in holes as they pop up >>> >>> >>> >>> I’m not going to put my thoughts up here just yet. These are the >>> options/thoughts as presented by the levels above me. >>> >>> >>> >>> Let the discussion begin…. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> ____________________________________ >>> *Brian Helman, M.Ed *|* Director, ITS/Networking Services | *(: >>> *978.542.7272 >>> <978.542.7272>* >>> >>> *Salem State University, 352 Lafayette St., Salem Massachusetts 01970* >>> >>> *GPS: 42.502129, -70.894779* >>> >>> >>> >>> ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE >>> Constituent Group discussion list can be found at >>> http://www.educause.edu/groups/. >>> >> ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE >> Constituent Group discussion list can be found at >> http://www.educause.edu/groups/. >> >> ********** Participation and subscription information for this >> EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at >> http://www.educause.edu/groups/. >> >> > ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE > Constituent Group discussion list can be found at > http://www.educause.edu/groups/. > > ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
