Networking & Wireless | News

Maine School District Implements New WiFi Network To Support 1-to-1

• By Leila Meyer
• 01/07/14

Maine School Administrative District 49 has deployed a new WiFi network to support its 1-to-1 initiative and encourage a paperless learning environment.

The district's 1-to-1 initiative provides teachers and students with Apple iPads, MacBooks, Google Chromebooks and other mobile devices, and the district is using the devices with a number of new student learning programs. To support such a large number of wireless devices, the district needed a robust WiFi network.

The district selected a Meru Education-Grade (MEG) wireless solution from Meru Networks "for its high-density device support and for the ease of deployment and management enabled by the single-channel, Virtual Cell deployment option of the MobileFLEX architecture," according to information from the company. MobileFLEX is a unified wireless network architecture designed to make it easier for IT staff to secure the network and manage capacity and bandwidth when large numbers of users are connecting with mobile devices, according to information on the company's site.

The district's MEG solution consists of four Meru controllers and hundreds of access points throughout the district. The mobile devices and WiFi network support the district's Pearson and Envision programs at the elementary level, Digits-based program in the middle schools and the core curricula at the high school level. The teachers use the devices and WiFi to work in Google apps and to display learning materials to students through Apple TV. "Wi-Fi has truly transformed how students and teachers collaborate across the district," said Stephanie Vargas, assistant technology coordinator for the district, in a prepared statement.

According to Meru Networks, the MEG solution lets districts onboard devices quickly with BYOD provisioning and secure WiFi mapped to IT policies, connect all BYOD devices reliably from anywhere on campus and deploy validated learning and teaching applications on BYOD devices.

Maine School Administrative District 49 operates seven schools serving 2,300 students in the communities of Albion, Benton, Clinton and Fairfield.