Network Techlab’s Aruba Mobility-Defined Networks empower a new generation of tech-savvy users who rely on their mobile devices for every aspect of work and personal communication. Known as #GenMobile, they demand to stay connected to everything all the time, no matter where they are.

Network Techlab (I) Pvt. Ltd. enhanced the stability and security of their campus network.

Organisation
Education Industry

Location
Mumbai

Domain
Education Industry

Solution Offered
Aruba Mobility-Defined Networks

Overview

One of the best Institute of Management and Research is a premier business school in the country. Since the inauguration, it has been consistently recognized as one of the top 10 business schools in India. Institute growing rapidly from one of the three B-schools in Mumbai, the institute has an enviable track record of recognizing the needs of society, especially the under managed sectors, and responding with quick responses.

Business Need

Institute wanted to provide easy access to information for students. For ease of access institute used SOHO/ Home routers from Linksys to provide wireless Ethernet access to students in classrooms so that they could access the internal resources as well as the internet. Based on capacity each classroom had two or more routers. Since the Linksys routers act as standalone devices, each device had to have a different SSID. This meant that if too many users connected to a single device, the device would become non-responsive and disrupt activities. Users had to be manually shifted by asking them to connect to the other devices SSID which was a time-intensive process.
The routers used a shared key for wireless access which meant anybody who knew the key could connect to the wireless and get access. Changing keys for security reasons required logging in to every access point. During exams of a particular group, the Institute IT team had to manually turn off wireless devices across the campus to deny internet access. This created conflicts as other student groups required Wifi access for their studies but since the keys were shared all devices had to be turned off.

Business Challenges

• SOHO/ HOME routers choke issue
• Wireless Security
• Introducing Higher capacity Wireless router

Solutions

Network Techlab (I) Pvt. Ltd. team worked closely with the IT team at the institute to understand the current issues during the POC. The team understood the typical bandwidth and device type requirements of the students. We also suggested some security measures missing in the current network to minimize security risk such as blocking AD-Hoc wireless networks which are widely used by Institute’s students.
We helped re-architect the hostel wired network as users were facing slowness & changed the old architecture which was a single network and suggested creating a separate 1Gbit power over an Ethernet network for wireless that would directly terminate over the core switch. recommended an upgrade of the core switch from 100 Mbps to 1gbps and also Recommended to upgrade the uplinks from the hostel, campus to 1 GB fiber via SFP Transceivers, eliminating the need for 100 Mbps Media converters used by Institute.

Unique Challenges

Institute’s IT Team was primarily focusing on Facility Management (i.e. Desktop/Servers etc). Any problems with the network, Institute was forced to outsource to a vendor for any troubleshooting. Institute needed a partner who could support them across for any network, security and wireless challenges.
Being an institute it did not have control on the type/make of devices brought in by students unlike in enterprises where the company rolls out only a standardized make/model to employees. Institute was provided a solution by us, that was BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) ready and capable to technically fulfill bandwidth/connectivity requirements of varied devices.

Results

• Centrally managed wireless solution with a single SSID
• Seamless roaming
• Robust security

Network Techlab (I) Pvt. Ltd.
41, Sarvodaya Industrial Estate, Opp. Paper Box, Off. Mahakali Caves Road, Andheri East, Mumbai – 400093. India
P: 022-6681 4141 | info@netlabindia.com | www.netlabindia.com
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