September 2002 — ConnectEd
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Case Study: Texas University Breaks Down the Walls of the Classroom With Wireless Connectivity
Instead, it is broadcast through the air in all directions, passing through walls, doors and fences. Therefore, a confidential memo regarding a student sent to a dean might be intercepted by anyone with receiving equipment within the range of wireless waves - typically 50 meters to 500 meters. Anyone with receiving equipment within this range could have access to all confidential material that you're sending, and there are enough financial or revenge incentives to make all of us potential targets for hackers of one sort or another. So, it was critical that the wireless networkbe protected and that only approved users have access to appropriate information.Wireless Gateways
Our team initially reviewed a range of security options, including remote authentication dial-in user service (RADIUS). But the campus was moving steadily toward a lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) solution - an increasingly common form of authentication involving a lookup and security binding via a central service - so we settled on LDAP authentication. We found that the managed access-gateway technology built into Bluesocket Inc.'s Wireless Gateways offered a clean and straightforward approach to our security concerns, because it provided us with the ability to authenticate every user via the campus LDAP service.
Now when students register for classes, UTD automatically generates accounts for logins to the network. About 80 percent of students have PCs. At Phase 8, as many as 200 simultaneous sessions have been supported using a single Bluesocket Gateway and 25 access points, which are small wireless base stations that plug directly into Ethernet jacks. Phase 8's wireless connectivity implementation was considered such a success that we're now finishing Phases 5-7, three more off-campus apartment complexes that house about 900 students. Phases 1-4 and 8a are also on the horizon for wireless connectivity implementation strategies.
Wireless technology is in its infancy, yet our wireless strategy is a dynamic process. We continually review new technologies, and we have found it's most important to work with vendors who evolve with the ever-changing wireless standards and are willing to commit to growing with us.
Doug Jackson
Director of Technology
Customer Services
The University of Texas at Dallas
E-mail: jackson@utdallas.edu
Contact Information
Bluesocket Inc.
Burlington, MA
(866) 633-3358
www.bluesocket.com
