Aruba Networks has deployed Wi-Fi network for Australian Catholic Education Office Sydney for more than 30,000 users including students (years 7-12), teachers and administrators spanning 39 secondary schools in Sydney.
According to the company, this is one of the world’s largest installations of the new wireless networking standard, 802.11ac, for the Australian Catholic Education Office Sydney, said Aruba Networks in a statement.
The company received the project after an official bid where its competitors were also participated. Aruba did not reveal the name of its rival which participated in the bidding process.
“The Catholic Education Office embraced an 802.11n-based Wi-Fi network five years ago across its Sydney Diocese. Since that time, the demand for Wi-Fi across our network has grown exponentially among our students, teachers and administrators. We have also seen a significant shift in both the type and number of devices seeking access to the network,” said Milton Scott, CTO, Catholic Education Office.
Since the existing 802.11n infrastructure was not coping with this demand and access was restricted to notebooks that could access 802.11n at 5Ghz, the Catholic Education Office moved quickly to the 802.11ac wireless standard.
Across the Catholic Education Office network, it is now common for students as well as teachers to connect up to three devices, including Apple, Android and Windows-based smart phones, tablets and laptops to the Wi-Fi network at any time.
Aruba solution was initially rolled out to nine schools and the Head Office – with the implementation spanning only five days. The installation was completed for an additional 30 schools over a 10-day period in late September 2013, during the New South Wales school holidays.
“We’re seeing significant interest from organisations seeking to upgrade their networks to 802.11ac now, as results emerge from customers– such as the Catholic Education Office deploying 802.11ac,” said Steve Coad, managing director, Australia and New Zealand for Aruba Networks.
