5 Years of Wireless

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5 Years of Wireless

• What we learned along the path from Exotic
  to commodity

Jim LowreyHead, SystemsMarquette University
Libraries
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Wireless at MU

• Started in Fall 1999 with 15 checkout laptops and
  15 cards
• Initially used Lucent WaveLAN APs
• Began in Memorial Library, spread to Science
  Library and other campus locations
• Departmental initiative and funding
• Early adopters Engineering students and
  commuters some paid 300. for cards!

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Critical Mass

• Earliest adopters were related to the early
  installations
• Students who regularly use the library
• Theology, philosophy graduate students
• Engineering and law students
• Mostly tech savvy, and overwhelmingly male
• Library did a lot of technical support

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Critical Mass, cont.

• As departments added wireless, the potential
  audience expanded and the average pc expertise
  fell drastically
• 2003-2004 year was major breakthrough due to
  wireless in the Union, general popularity of
  laptops, and the opening of Raynor Library

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Current Wireless Locations
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Expansion

• Raynor Library opened in Fall 2003 and had full
  wireless access assumed from the beginning, due
  in part to our experience with the technology

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Raynor Memorial Library
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Current Library Wireless

• Raynor Library (120,000 ft2)
• 10 Cisco APs
• Memorial Library (220,000 ft2)
• 11 APs
• 15 wireless laptops checkout (HP)
• Portable cart with 22 HP laptops
• Registered Cards 4,000 (October)

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Main Memorial Reading Room, Fall 1999
Memorial Reading Room, after renovation, Summer
2004
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Mainstreaming Wireless

• Campus wireless has migrated from departmental
  Lucent (Orinoco/Proxim) to centralized Cisco over
  past 2 years
• Centralized management/configuration
• Integrated with Cisco network infrastructure

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Survey of Incoming Class, 2004

• 91 brought computer to campus
• 64 Laptops
• 97 Windows platform
• 76 Computer is lt1 year old
• 88 Have cell phone (all with loud ringers)

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Popularity brings.

• Windows 2000 and XP have made configuration much
  easier
• 802.11b is a standard!
• Large percentage of integrated wireless
• Previous experience home/work nets
• Peer assistance

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Security

• Still 1st Generation
• All wireless network on campus is on a virtual
  network (VLAN).
• RADIUS security - all users must register their
  MAC addresses in order to get an IP address
• AND
• We use standard WEP encryption
• Student MACs are deleted when they are no longer
  with MU
• As of this time, no further layers are in place
• Future changes will likely be integrated with
  desktop security and quarantine systems

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Wireless and Security

• Last Fall (2003), with the release of Blaster,
  Nachi, and other worms, one weakness of wireless
  and laptops became evident.
• Entire year of 2003-4 was difficult for all of
  campus.

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Security, cont.

• Ability to locate and isolate infected wireless
  devices is difficult.
• They travel around campus
• Used irregularly, often powered off
• MAC address can be changed by swapping wireless
  cards or by using the copper port
• Laptops often seen as peripheral devices
• Stored for weeks at a time, miss updates

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Impact of Laptops and Wireless

• Endless variety of laptops, appearance,
  configuration, etc.
• Difficult to get assistance
• Software is now better, easier to configure
• Some faculty assume consistency which is no
  longer there
• Students are less demanding of public computers
• Easier to arrive at standard configuration for
  public desktop computers reliability rules!
• If students really want it, install it on your
  own PC!

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Emergence of CMS

• Course-management systems (Blackboard, D2L,
  Angel, WebCT, etc.)
• Continual access is essential.
• Students login and stay logged in, submit
  assignments, take quizzes, etc.
• Add-ins, viewers, software applications must be
  there to support the course
• Standardization is more difficult w/ laptops.
• Faculty often overlook lack of standardization

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What weve seen

• Transition from
• wow this actually works? to
• I see your network let me on - now
• Multiple wireless devices laptops, PDAs
• Weve provided our campus printing solution to
  wireless users (Pharos)

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Whats Coming Next

• Smaller devices
• PDAs already very prominent, but not as
  multi-purpose as expected
• Size of display, input and printing issues
• Smart Phones?

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THANKS! Jim LowreyMarquette Universitylowreyj_at_m
arquette.edu414 288 6043