Wi-Fi Availability (High-Density Usage Areas)

Project Description

One of the most explosive growths in technology is the use of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. It is not uncommon today for students to have both a smartphone and a laptop or tablet, and both require access to the wireless network. As students continue to expect access to campus resources from the device or devices of their choice, the Wi-Fi must be capable of handling the increased traffic. This issue is most acute in high-density student usage areas. The student success fee makes it possible for ITS to increase the Wi-Fi availability. ITS is in the process of surveying the University's existing wireless infrastructure to identify high usage areas. New access points, licenses, controllers and new technology will be implemented in these areas, as well as filling in other areas with limited coverage. Achieving this goal will allow students to study, learn, communicate and access resources from any campus location.

Student Benefits

All students on campus will benefit from the increased availability. It's important that students can have access when they need it, without the inconvenience of blocked access. And it's important that the increased use of mobile devices doesn't strain the network availability. This project contributes to the efficiency and effectiveness of student access to teaching and learning technologies, applications, tools and campus resources.

How Do I Get Started?

To access the Internet from the campus wireless network, you will need a myCSULA Identity account for login.

Training

Information regarding the wireless network is available at Welcome to the Cal State L.A. Wireless Network web page.

Various handouts to assist network users are also available in the Wireless! Quickstart Guides.

Measuring success

Each quarter ITS will update the status of the following three measurements:

Measurement Value	Description
Technical implementation	Status of the implementation and any subsequent upgrades or updates. New enhancements as they become available for students.
Perception of value and usefulness	(We welcome your feedback on the Anytime, Anywhere Access project, as well as any of the other five student success fee projects. Click on "Contact ITS" at the bottom of any ITS web page to submit feedback.)
Quantitative Data Analysis	Usage data, traffic data or other quantitative data that outlines trends or provides a measurement of success.

• Technical Implementation Status

  Phase One of improving wireless availability consisted of two steps.

  • The first step upgraded the wireless controller software and was completed on August 21, 2012. This software upgrade included enhancements that allowed for better wireless management, thereby eliminating known connection issues.
  • The second step replaced the legacy wireless access points (APs) with faster 802.11n radios and was completed on September 28, 2012. Completing this step immediately improved performance issues such as signal strength, signal speed (3-fold improvement), signal range, bandwidth and channel management service. These improvements were made by changing the way the wireless equipment communicates with each of the devices that you bring to campus. The CSULA wireless network now meets industry best practices

  Phase Two was performed throughout the fall quarter 2012 and consisted of conducting wireless surveys across the campus to measure both signal strength and capacity in all classroom buildings and other areas where students tend to congregate. Based on the results, the first three locations identified for upgrades were Salazar Hall, the Food Court in the Golden Eagle building and King Hall. Salazar Hall was completed before the start of winter quarter 2013. The Food Court and King Hall will be completed by the middle of winter quarter 2013.

  • What's Coming Next

    ITS will continue to survey the campus to identify areas where there is little or no signal. Once those areas are identified, ITS will continue to make adjustments as required.

• User Feedback

  No user feedback has been submitted to date.

• Quantitative Data Analysis

  While reading this section, it's important to note the distinction between an individual person and the various devices that they may be carrying with them. For instance, one person could carry an iPhone, an iPad and a MacBook. This would mean that one person has three unique devices. Since we have no way of knowing how many devices everyone has with them, we report based on the number of devices that are seen on the network as opposed to how many people are using it.

  

  Chart 1. Represents the usage of the two wireless network Service Set Identifiers (SSID's). It shows the number of unique devices, not the number of actual people using those devices. It is possible that one person has more than one device (e.g. an iPhone and a notebook PC), so that would be 2 devices on this chart. It is also possible that the same device could be connected to the encrypted wireless network on one day and the unencrypted wireless network on another day. With that in mind, the left column shows the number of different devices that were connected to only the encrypted network during the quarter. The right column shows the number of different devices that were connected to only the unencrypted network during the quarter. The middle column shows the number of different devices that were connected to both the encrypted and unencrypted networks during the quarter.

  

  Chart 2. Represents the usage of the two wireless network Service Set Identifiers (SSID's). It shows the number of hours of wireless network usage. This is calculated by adding up all the hours used by every device that was connected to the network (device hours). It is possible that one person has more than one device (e.g. an iPhone and a notebook PC), so that would be two devices on this chart. It is also possible that the same device could be connected to the encrypted wireless network on one day and the unencrypted wireless network on another day. With that in mind, the left column shows the number of device hours for devices that were connected to only the encrypted network during the quarter. The right column shows the number device hours for devices that were connected to only the unencrypted network during the quarter. The middle column shows the number of device hours for devices that were connected to both the encrypted and unencrypted networks during the quarter.

  

  Chart 3. Represents the usage of the two wireless network Service Set Identifiers (SSID's). It shows the amount of traffic running through the wireless network. It is possible that one person has more than one device (e.g. an iPhone and a notebook PC), so that would be two devices on this chart. It is also possible that the same device could be connected to the encrypted wireless network on one day and the unencrypted wireless network on another day. With that in mind, the left column shows the number of megabytes of date from devices that were connected to only the encrypted network during the quarter. The right column shows the number of megabytes of data from devices that were connected to only the unencrypted network during the quarter. The middle column shows the number of megabytes of data from devices that were connected to both the encrypted and unencrypted networks during the quarter.

  

  Chart 4. Represents the usage of the two wireless network Service Set Identifiers (SSID's). It shows the amount of traffic running through the wireless network. It is possible that one person has more than one device (e.g. an iPhone and a notebook PC), so that would be two devices on this chart. It is also possible that the same device could be connected to the encrypted wireless network on one day and the unencrypted wireless network on another day. With that in mind, this chart shows the top 12 Operating Systems that were used on devices that connected to the wireless network.