Benedict College in Columbia, SC is deploying a campus-wide, indoor/outdoor 802.11n network. Currently being rolled out across the entire 100-acre campus, the network will blanket the school to support voice, video, and data applications, according to college representatives. Thirty buildings are being outfitted with the Smart wi-fi gear, including a 10,000-seat stadium, on- and off-campus student housing, libraries, administrative buildings, and classrooms. Benedict is replacing legacy Cisco 802.11g access points. The college has selected Ruckus Wireless gear for the move, including 168 dual-band 802.11n ZoneFlex 7962 Smart Wi-Fi access points along with the ZoneDirector 3250 WLAN controller.
Dynamic beamforming uses constant feedback from the client to ensure that the path selected is performing properly using standard acknowledgements built into the standard 802.11 protocol. The idea is to construct an adaptive system that provides better performance and longer range and that automatically adapts to environmental changes without IT staff having to perform manual tuning. Previously Benedict had deployed Cisco wi-fi access points on a limited basis throughout some administrative buildings, but had not made a strategic commitment to the technology.
