Staff and students will soon be able to enjoy extended Wi-Fi coverage on the Dunedin Campus.
Wi-Fi is getting a boost outside on the Dunedin central campus and at many colleges as an outdoor Wi-Fi network starts being installed. Providing a contemporary digital student experience is a key priority of Pae Tata.
Information Technology Services (ITS) Network Services Manager Young Cho says previously students and staff used Wi-Fi that radiated from buildings into outside spaces, except for two small outdoor Wi-Fi test sites operating for the past year on the eastern side of the central library near the Castle lecture theatres.
To boost Wi-Fi outdoors, the ITS Infrastructure team started by creating a virtual campus environment to identify the best locations for Wi-Fi wireless access points to get the best coverage.
The team conducted a site survey to assess how the network plan would perform in real life. This involved attaching Wi-Fi access points to tripod-based poles and placing them where access points would be installed to check the locations’ suitability and the strength of coverage in those areas.
Staff did on-site tests in 30 per cent of the area designated for Wi-Fi coverage and compared the results to the network design plan to determine whether any locations for access points or the direction of their antennae needed tweaking to get optimal coverage.
“This work is essential because predicting exactly how a Wi-Fi network’s radio waves will reflect off surfaces, bend around objects, and encounter interference – from neighbouring Wi-Fi networks, trees, buildings, etc – is challenging,” Young says.
Left, ITS staff check the locations’ suitability and the strength of coverage using a mobile Wi-Fi access point on a tripod-based pole. Right, where the new outdoor Wi-Fi will cover the Dunedin campus.
Contractors hope to have all the outdoor Wi-Fi access points installed on the Dunedin campus by February next year.
Once that work is done, ITS Infrastructure staff will test the Wi-Fi network coverage again to see if any of the access points’ transmitting antennae need adjusting to improve coverage.
The central campus area being covered by outdoor Wi-Fi is bounded mostly by Albany Street, Leith Walk, St David Street, Castle Street, and Cumberland Street however it also stretches down Union Street West as far as the Plaza Building.
Outdoor Wi-Fi is also being installed at University-owned colleges.
Providing connectivity is in line with the University’s Pae Tata Strategic Plan to 2030 because it envisages transforming the digital environment to create value for students and staff.