Campus-wide Wi-Fi expected by '08-'09

Author: Michael Suen

Middlebury's initiative to install a campus-wide wireless network is underway, and most buildings will likely offer wireless service by the beginning of the 2008-2009 academic year, according to College officials. Following the selection of the enterprise-driven Aruba Networks as a product vendor last spring, installation of a wireless infrastructure has begun throughout campus and will continue to be expanded upon indefinitely.

Though initial estimates placed the possibility of campus-wide Wi-Fi by the end of the 2007 Winter Term, College officials said the process of installation would in fact take a longer amount of time than was previously reported.

"There's no fixed time table that we have at this point," said Howie McCausland, director of Network Design and Operations. "We're trying to respond to College-wide priorities and where we perceive to [have] the greatest need."

Since last year, wireless service has been extended to cover major academic buildings, including Warner, Munroe and McCardell Bicentennial Halls. The next large step for the College, said McCausland, is bringing Wi-Fi to the student resident halls.

Many dormitories, especially more historical buildings such as Hepburn or the Ch‚teau, will require extensive rewiring and construction, a task that McCausland expects to be both "difficult and expensive." The projected cost for wireless dormitories remains uncertain, as the College continues to conduct site surveys.

"It's not just the case of going out and buying a gazillion of the little blue boxes that you have at home for wireless," said McCausland.

The completion date remains an unclear "moving target." Nonetheless, the installation process remains on-track and by the start of the next school year, McCausland believes Wi-Fi will be available in a majority of the buildings, where "there are the most people, the most need, or some real function that cannot take place without the wireless."

Construction of a wireless infrastructure has already begun for Ross Commons, which McCausland expects to be finished by winter term. Wireless service is available in Ross Dining Hall, the cinema room below the dining hall, as well as in much of LaForce Hall.

Wireless access to the extent of being able to connect to the Internet from one's own room, however, will be a more ambitious undertaking, requiring cables to be run through the walls of the entire building before wireless access points are installed. Wiring is especially difficult for Middlebury, with dormitories continuing to operate over the summer for Language Schools. Intensive construction will occur over holiday breaks such as Thanksgiving and Christmas break.

"With this project, Facilities is really our close department," said Carrie Rampp, director of Resource Development & Services. "Ultimately, a lot of what needs to happen is the construction. Once that's in place, we can go ahead."

Network administrators have also overseen the rewiring of facilities to improve already existing wireless service. The New Library and McCullough Student Center, for instance, have replaced existing wireless access points.

McCausland estimates the projected cost of installing campus-wide Wi-Fi to be approximately "a couple million dollars," though he said the price was difficult to predict with the initiative being an ongoing project.

Following the installation of indoor wireless, network administrators have discussed the possibility of installing Wi-Fi in popular outdoor areas such as Battell Beach.

Student response to the introduction of Wi-Fi throughout most of campus has been positive, though the need for wireless does not seem especially urgent. Despite this, students generally see wireless as only being the next logical step.

"I would use [wireless] if they had it," said Brian Watroba '11, "but I'm not going to go out and hold up a sign saying I want wireless."

For many, the convenience of being able to access e-mail, Facebook and online class resources from any spot on campus is a welcome addition, despite there being plugs for Ethernet cables in many buildings.

"I'm surprised there isn't wireless in the dorms," said Anna Zauer '11. "It's not a necessity, but it would be nice if we had that available. That way, I'd be able to work in places other than my room, like the study."

"It's like playing video games," said Watroba. "You're three feet from the television, and there were corded controllers for however many years. Now there are cordless controllers, but you're still about three feet from the television. It's just this one more inch of convenience, but it's that much more."