A wire-free campus

Wi-Fi is making rapid strides in the educational segment. SHRIMCA has recently unwired its campus by providing wireless connectivity to its students and faculty, says Abhinav Singh.

Shrimad Rajchandra Institute of Management and Computer Application (SHRIMCA), Bardoli, Gujarat, has finally realised its dream—to provide its students and faculty with the best possible IT infrastructure and Wi-Fi Internet connectivity. The entire campus is now wireless and offering all-round Wi-Fi Internet access to students. Earlier, the wired connectivity was on D-Link fibre, and now the wireless connectivity is provided using D-Link’s Access Points (APs) and omni-directional antennas.

The need for Wi-Fi

SHRIMCA wanted to provide its faculty and students with wireless Internet access across the campus. Besides, many NRIs who had given donations to the institute wanted it to be a Wi-Fi zone. These NRIs regularly frequent the campus with their Wi-Fi-enabled notebooks. Bankim Patel, Director, SHRIMCA says, “The institute has provided 30 wireless-enabled notebooks from HCL to the faculty members. The notebooks are extensively used by these members while giving lectures in the classrooms.” Many students are in the process of buying Wi-Fi-enabled notebooks for research activities and also to access the Internet. Besides this it had been the endeavour of the institute to provide the best of the technology to its students. The importance of information-sharing, convenience of information processing and need for mobility meant users could not be tied-down to their desktops hence a Wi-Fi network was crucial for the institute.

Geo Integrators, a Surat-based organisation, carried out the entire implementation while the infrastructure was developed using D-link devices. Vinod Bhateja, Technical Support, Head, Geo Integrators explains, “It is a tedious process to lay wired cables inside a building or a campus. Moreover it was not possible to provide Internet connectivity in every nook and corner of the campus especially near the garden and the lawns using the wired network.”

SHRIMCA also holds seminars and conferences regularly which are attended by delegates using Wi-Fi-enabled notebooks. It was not possible to provide the delegates with physical nodes at a short notice with the wired network.

However, a sustained effort by Patel made the Wi-Fi connectivity a reality. Patel elaborates, “Since we had been using D-Link products for our wired network and were quite satisfied with the performance and support it provided, we decided to go ahead with these products for the Wi-Fi connectivity as well.” A complete solution using the D-Link Layer 3 switches and DWL 2100 Access Points are used in all buildings of SHRIMCA. These are connected with a single mode fibre and total of 20 APs and 45 wireless LAN cards which are installed to provide a comprehensive Wi-Fi infrastructure. A 1 Mbps dedicated microwave link has been set up with dedicated routers.

Gauging capacity

The entire Wi-Fi network was completed in just 20 days. But prior to the rollout a thorough survey was conducted which enabled the implementers to place APs and check whether they were giving appropriate coverage in a particular area in the campus. The implementation began in November 2005 and the Wi-Fi network went live in December 2005. Bhateja says, “We tested the placement of APs and before actually installing them gauged their coverage capacity in an area. Based on our findings we placed the APs across the campus. We also wanted to ensure that the beauty and aesthetics of the campus were not disturbed when the APs were installed and minimum cables were placed while connecting them.” The APs are protected by fibre boxes and have an in-built antenna and the box protects them from water.

Two units of Radio Frequency-enabled omni-directional antennas from D-Link, one on the terrace and the other at the entrance of the campus have been deployed. These antennas are connected to the APs, which in turn are connected to the central server. These antennas have been placed to give the best coverage across the campus. Four buildings and different classrooms on the campus have been connected by the Wi-Fi network. The APs across the campus are connected to the existing LAN infrastructure, which is based on a fibre optic cable that runs all over the area. The cable connects all the buildings to the central core switch, which is connected to a server.

Wi-Fi everywhere

Wireless connectivity is now available to anybody having a notebook with a wireless card. SHRIMCA provides Wi-Fi connectivity free-of-cost to its students, faculty and visitors. On any given day, an average of 200 students and faculty members are connected to the Wi-Fi network. Now visitors can access Internet connectivity without any hassle. Patel adds, “Many of our students are working on consultancy projects and it is important for them to stay connected from anywhere in the campus. Earlier, there were many places where there was no wired Internet connectivity even at the desktop level. Now even the desktops are Wi-Fi-enabled and can be connected to access the Internet.” Students mainly access the Student Information System, upload information and prepare presentations using Wi-Fi. There is a new hostel and residential area coming up in the campus, which will also be Wi-FI-enabled gradually.