A Big Hand for the Wireless LAN Project By Annie Yu

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.