Graduate Center Set to Go Wireless
by LKrasnoff
1st phase done by end of Spring ’07, IT Provost says
The Graduate Center unveiled a comprehensive plan last week for installing wireless Internet coverage within the 365 Fifth Avenue building. Associate Provost for Instructional Technology and External Programs Steve Brier said that he was “pleased to be at this stage,” and that the aim was to “roll out the first phase” this academic year.
The computer technology consulting company contracted to bring the GC into the 21st century, Custom Computer Specialists, Inc. (CCS), briefed members of the GC community on the technology and process of implementation needed to provide the building with wireless Internet. As the funding to provide the building with complete coverage would run over $500,000, the GC administration has decided to incorporate wireless service in a series of phases. The first phase, funded by the Student Technology Fee and underway during 2006-07, targets the major student-use areas within the building: the first floor student lounge and library areas, the entire second floor of the library, the computer areas in the library on the C-level, and the eighth floor dining area.
According to Assistant Vice President for Information Technology Robert D. Campbell, there will be five steps to deploying wireless Internet technology during Phase One: installing the back office infrastructure, installing individual access points in the targeted areas, wiring the access points, wiring the access points to the main switch, and purchasing spare parts. Access points are the devices through which the Internet signals are sent.
The key factor that will determine how long it will take to have wireless Internet coverage up and running within the Phase One target areas will be the amount of time it takes to wire the building with the requisite cable infrastructure. The projected timeframe is to have Phase One completed by the end of the Spring 2007 term, though the GC hopes to have some of it running during the spring semester, Campbell said.
Subsequent phases will target other areas within the building and eventually will provide coverage in most classrooms, lounges, program offices, and thesis rooms. Though not all areas will be targeted initially, CCS has completed a detailed floor-by-floor plan of where all future access points should be laid out, a step that will save the GC money and time.
Matt Silverman, a Technical Engineer for CCS, was responsible for mapping out the entire GC building, a job that he said gave him nightmares as it was a “tough structure.” It took Silverman and a team of two other engineers a week to walk through and test out “every square inch” of every room to analyze different levels of interference and to garner enough information to develop a plan that when 100% implemented, would give “seamless roaming coverage with a guaranteed bandwidth” throughout key areas of the building.
According to Silverman, the biggest challenge was the second floor library, as the rows of dense books are difficult to transmit radio signals through. Under Phase One, the library will have 19 access points installed to provide coverage throughout the entire floor — even between the book shelves.
The goal is to enable students, faculty, and GC community members to use a multitude of devices within the building, including laptops, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), Skype telephones, and Wi-Fi cellular phones.
The GC wireless network will be separate from the in-house network, ensuring that if the internal server goes down, people will still have access to the Internet via the wireless coverage. CCS will also ensure that the GC’s wireless system has security precautions that will prohibit outside users from gaining access to the system.
CCS has years of experience working with institutions of higher education using mostly Cisco systems — the same equipment that they plan to use at the GC. Since 2002 they have provided the New York City school system with 55,459 classrooms and 85,688,500 square-feet of wireless coverage.
