Red Rover wireless gets an upgrade, will expand to residence halls

It's not always obvious to users, but Cornell's Red Rover wireless service is becoming more reliable. Existing access points are being upgraded, and expansion is planned to include more campus buildings, including residence halls.

"One of the things that's important to us is that Wi-Fi has gone from being a special service to something that's ubiquitous and expected," said Ed Keifer, assistant director for voice and data engineering for Cornell Information Technologies.

More than 1,000 Red Rover access points are located in academic buildings that have public spaces or large lecture halls, allowing anyone with a Cornell Net ID to connect and providing limited access for guests. The system also allows secure, encrypted connections for those who need them.

Technicians have been at work since December replacing existing access points with updated equipment that is more resistant to interference, works better with handheld devices and provides better security. Upgrades in most classroom buildings were scheduled for completion by the end of January.

In residence halls, just a few common spaces have access points, but as the Ezranet rewiring project moves through residence halls later in the year wiring will be upgraded to allow wireless service to rooms and common spaces in all the residences. The residence hall project was launched by a $250,000 gift from Doug Leone '79 of Sequoia Capital in Sunnyvale, Calif. Leone, a steady supporter of the College of Engineering, also has a long-standing interest in helping undergraduates.

Under discussion, Kiefer said, is the addition of "ruggedized" access points on the outsides of buildings to improve outdoor service. Limited outdoor connectivity is possible now close to a few buildings, especially libraries. Also under discussion is an upgrade to support the newer, faster 802.11n wireless standard.

If there has been a noticeable improvement in service so far, Kiefer said, it is mostly due to removing interference from privately installed wireless equipment, leaky microwaves, cordless telephones and the occasional cranky laptop. The new access points, from Aruba Networks Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., use new software that can recognize and adapt to interference, and include telemetry that triangulates from three or more access points to allow technicians to find the exact location of interference sources on a building map.

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