Cypress Fairbanks ISD Upgrades Wireless for BYOD
Cypress Fairbanks Independent School
District (CFISD) in Houston, TX has replaced its wireless infrastructure
with a new 802.11ac system to support a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy for
students, faculty, staff and guests.
The district serves more than 113,000 students and employs approximately
14,000 teachers and staff. With its new BYOD policy, it anticipates supporting
nearly half a million wireless devices, with elementary students bringing one
device each, middle school students bringing two and high school students
bringing as many as three devices each. "To do this successfully, we need
a reliable, high speed infrastructure that can scale, can deliver uninterrupted
coverage across our schools and in the classrooms and can authenticate and
provide secure access for all of these devices," said Frankie Jackson, chief
technology officer for CFISD, in a prepared statement.
The district selected 802.11ac technology from Aruba Networks to replace its existing
wireless network infrastructure. When the installation is complete, the network
will include more than 8,000 Aruba 200
Series access points both indoors and outdoors, 7200
Series mobility controllers, AirWave
network management and Aruba's ClearPass
Policy Management platform.
According to the company, "ClearPass was a key factor in CFISD's
decision to select Aruba." Because the wireless network will support personal
devices from a wide variety of users, including students, staff and guests, the
district is concerned about security, authentication and policy management.
With ClearPass, the district will be able to identity each device on the
network and control access to network resources based on the type of user,
whether it's a student, teacher, administrator or guest.
With the network upgrade, the district hopes to "not only increase the use
of technology in the classroom, but to improve overall academic achievement by
allowing students to collaborate, communicate, problem-solve and engage in
creative and critical thinking," said Jackson in a prepared statement.
The district is working with Layer 3
Communications in Houston to implement the network upgrade. They are
currently installing the system in the middle and high schools and plan to
install it in the elementary schools in the fall.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].