The campus’s wireless Internet-access system operates invisibly, but a growing number of users are making it one of the predominant communications tools on campus.
Users taking advantage of nearly 4,000 access points around campus recently broke the campus record for concurrent use, reaching 20,000 earlier this year.
“We passed a number we never dreamed we would get to this early in the school year,” said Chuck Hayes, a senior network engineer for Campus Information Technology and Educational Services.
The campus has since reached 22,000 concurrent users, up from just over 14,000 a year ago and 16,000 at the end of the spring semester.
“That’s quite a big jump,” he said, “and the number of people using wireless devices keeps growing.”
From smartphones to tablet computers, the age of mobile wireless access is here indeed.
Hayes said CITES has been working on strategies to expand the volume of the Urbana campus wireless system, which involves increasing the number of wireless access points and IP (Internet protocol) addresses for those logging on.
IllinoisNet, the preferred network because it has additional security components, has 14,000 addresses available. UIUCnet, which is unsecured, has about 12,000 available addresses.
“We’ve been looking at different strategies we can employ to increase those numbers,” Hayes said of the local networks.
Additionally, campus users may access the eduroam wireless network, used by campus guests and campus users traveling to other campuses. The system is outside the university’s protective firewall, however.
The university started offering wireless Internet access more than a decade ago, though fewer than 300 access points initially were deployed. The buildup of campus access points, much of it coming in the last five years, has included classroom and other student gathering spaces.
Hayes said CITES is seeking funding to expand and improve campus access and that units can pay a nominal fee to have an access point added.
“Right now we’re working hard to keep ahead of the trend and allow anybody to access the Internet from the convenience of anywhere on campus,” he said.
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