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Wireless devices push Iowa schools to expand access and bandwidth [The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa](Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 14--Iowa colleges and universities have spent hundreds of thousands -- and in some cases, millions -- to boost campus wireless systems to keep up with technology demands. Smartphones, laptops and tablets like the iPad have fueled the wireless fire on campuses and even at K-12 schools. Higher education officials said they've seen huge increases in demand in the past two to three years as more people come to campus with Wi-Fi devices. "We buy 40 percent more (bandwidth) each year from our providers," said Angela Bradley, Iowa State University's director of system operations, networks and communication. "It's just increasing very quickly." It's a constant state of trying to stay ahead of the curve, technology officials say. It's not just the type and number of devices people are using, but it's also the content they access. An increase in video streaming eats up a lot of the bandwidth on college campuses, officials said. K-12 schools don't have quite the same issues as colleges. Without a resident population, K-12 schools mostly are focused on the education and business aspects of Internet usage. Both have become critical enough in recent years that several area school districts recently upgraded their bandwidth, too. About 40 percent of wireless use at the University of Northern Iowa is from video streaming, said Steve Moon, director of UNI network services. UNI puts a cap on streaming traffic on the network during business hours, Moon said. Other colleges or universities use management tools that automatically throttle down the speed of such traffic. It's also common for students to have a different wireless network from faculty and researchers. ISU has spent more than $2.5 million in the past five years on wireless upgrades, Bradley said, with plans for another $1.5 million investment on infrastructure improvements. The ISU wireless network sees about 60,000 devices every day, with 41,000 users. UNI has 10,500 devices registered to use its wireless network in 2011, compared with 8,000 in 2010 and 2,500 in 2007. About two years ago, UNI started covering all instructional spaces on campus with wireless access. The upgrade cost about $700,000. "Every classroom, every lab now has its own dedicated access point rather than sharing with three of four rooms," Moon said. It's what students expect, which is why Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids is working on 100 percent of campus having wireless access. About 60 percent to 70 percent of campus has it so far, said Connie Snitker, interim director of information technology. "One question that parents ask, that students ask the minute they come visit our campus is 'Is your campus 100 percent wireless?' That's a big drawing point, and admissions has really been wanting us to do it," she said. The school also increased bandwidth after frequent student complaints about streaming movies or videos, Snitker said. Kirkwood Community College also has boosted wireless access and bandwidth, said Jon Neff, executive director of technology services. Since Kirkwood's wireless push began six years ago, campus bandwidth has gone from 15 megabytes to 100 megabytes. Kirkwood has invested about $400,000 in the upgrades. At the K-12 level, bandwidth growth has been the big push. College Community school district switched providers in the spring to increase from 40 megabits to 100 megabits per second and has an option to upgrade to an entire gigabit, although tech director Craig Barnum said it was unlikely the district would need that much speed in the near future. The district greatly enhanced its wireless coverage around campus, particularly at Prairie Point Middle School and Ninth Grade Academy and Prairie High School. The high school is considering a 1:1 computer program for its 10th to 12th-grade students, which would require a stronger wireless infrastructure. "We went from an environment that was adequate to cover just our instructional staff, but not the density of devices we're talking about," he said. Cedar Rapids schools also recently shored up its Internet speed from 100 megabits to 250 megabits per second by adding a second Internet service provider. It's about reliability, not just speed, said technology director Lori Bruzek. "This creates redundant Internet access, so that if one provider has an outage, we can fall back to the second provider," she said. Iowa City schools currently have a 100 megabit per second connection with the state-run Iowa Communications Network, which is the provider most Iowa schools use, said tech director David Dude. He would like to see the district add fiber redundancy to its Internet access. The district is exploring options but is limited in some places by the age of its buildings. All three districts are dealing with a much larger segment of students and faculty bringing their own laptops and smartphones and looking for Internet access. Cedar Rapids and Iowa City provide guest network access for outside devices, but the bandwidth is restricted. College Community provides full network access if the user has a school login. ___ (c)2011 The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) Visit The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) at thegazette.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |