A Big Hand
for the Wireless LAN Project
By
Annie Yu
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A lot has been said
about the benefits of implementing wireless LAN in the entire
campus of CityU. As a matter of fact, the successful outcome of
the pilot project was reported in the previous issue of Network
Computing. The response was very positive and those staff and
students engaged in the project recommended that the provision
be extended to a larger number of classrooms. In view of this,
the Computing Services Centre had requested funding to expand
the project and to provide additional wireless connections in
the classrooms, the academic departments and the common areas
like the Library, the Mall and the student canteen. In addition,
it was proposed that the number of video projectors be increased,
and made available through a loan system for use in the classrooms.
As an ample supply of notebooks is needed for the success of wireless
LAN, the introduction of a notebook loan scheme was also proposed.
Given such a strong ground of recommendations,
the good news soon emerged. Starting from Semester B, the wireless
LAN will cover the entire campus. All classrooms on 4/F and 5/F
will have an access point (transceiver) installed, which allows
computer/video presentation, demonstrations, computer-based training,
etc. To allow the teaching staff to try out their prepared materials
in a wireless environment before actual use in class, an access
point will be installed for free in each department at a convenient
location. The coverage of an access point is of a radius of at
least 100 feet without obstacle (receptivity is greatly reduced
by the existence of steel partition) and the throughput can support
over 20 casual users or approximately 3 heavy users. Ten video
projectors will be provided through a loan scheme. In addition,
an initial loan pool of some 200 notebooks will be established
on campus where students could borrow notebooks on a daily basis.
For class use, a lecturer can reserve the number of notebooks
required in advance. These notebooks may be leased from the supplier
with the option to upgrade every two years. The precise cost will
depend upon negotiations with a number of vendors and the selection
of the most competitive package. Apart from the classrooms and
academic departments, access points will also be installed in
the common areas such as the Library, Mall, Student Canteen and
the like.
The extended wireless LAN project
is nowhere near the end. It will be evaluated to determine its
effectiveness and the extent to which the facilities have been
used by staff in their teaching sessions. If the exercise proves
successful, it is anticipated that a further upgrading of facilities
in the classrooms and the notebook loan pool will be needed. When
the time comes, there will be a need to upgrade the main backbones
of the campus network to cope with increasing demand caused by
the expansion of the wireless LAN project.