“From the very outset, AirWave treated Fairfax County Public Schools as a valued partner. AirWave made sure the software would meet our needs and is extremely responsive to our requests. I wish all vendors were as committed to customer support. We definitely made the right choice when we selected Airwave.” --- John Bayliss, Network Engineering & Support Manager

Wireless technology makes it possible for colleges, universities and school districts to deliver fast, reliable network access to everyone: students, teachers, administrators, staff and guests. That is why educational institutions have been among the earliest and most aggressive adopters of Wi-Fi technology. With standard, off-the-shelf Wi-Fi and mesh networking products, schools can deliver access almost anywhere:  classrooms, labs, libraries, common areas, residence halls, administrative areas, athletic facilities and even outdoor areas.

For these schools, the real question is not whether to deploy wireless networks, but how to do so efficiently, without overwhelming the IT department responsible for operating the network and supporting end users.

That is why Yale, MIT, Indiana University, Vanderbilt, Fairfax County Public Schools, the Indianapolis School District and more than 200 other colleges, universities, and school districts have selected the AirWave Wireless Management Suite software to manage and monitor their wireless networks.

Anyone who has worked in IT at an educational institution knows that schools and universities have very unique requirements. For more than seven years, AirWave Wireless has worked with IT leaders in education to ensure that the AirWave software meets these specific needs as well as providing the core management functions needed by any organization operating a wireless network for thousands of users.

Scalable, centralized management of wireless networks spread across large geographic areas.
The IT staff at a university or school district may have to manage wireless networks in hundreds (or even thousands) of buildings that may be miles apart – with far fewer IT resources than in a typical corporation of comparable size. AirWave's software allows the helpdesk staff and network engineers to remotely manage every device and monitor every user from a single web-based console. AMP helps diagnose and resolve network and user problems quickly – without the needing to send anyone to perform costly and time-consuming onsite trouble-shooting.  The AirWave Wireless Management Suite automates routine tasks like configuration management, software distribution, report generation, compliance audits, and more – so overworked network engineers and other IT staff members can focus on other, more important tasks.

Wireless networks at large universities and school districts can grow to include thousands of nodes, with tens of thousands of end users. AirWave’s software manages networks with anywhere from 25 to 50,000 or more wireless access points and controllers.  AirWave's scalable architecture, including the centralized AirWave Master Console, ensures that even the largest wireless networks can still be managed from a single console.

Visibility to all users—no matter what kind of wireless device they are using
At a typical university or school district, IT cannot dictate what types of devices students and teachers are going to connect to the wireless network: all varieties of desktops and laptops, phones, game consoles, printers, servers, handheld devices, and more.

The AirWave Management Platform allows you to monitor each user and device connected to the network – so you can tell how they are connected, where they’re located, how strong the RF signal is, how much bandwidth they’re using, and more. AirWave’s VisualRF module even lets you locate them on a map and track their roaming patterns. 

Ease of use for a diverse IT staff
In the education environment, the IT staff is often very diverse, ranging from skilled network engineers with years of training and advanced degrees to young, part-time student works on the helpdesk. The intuitive AirWave interface is simple and easy for them, or anyone,  to use -- and has appropriate administrative access controls to ensure that these student workers do not have access to inappropriate information or the ability to change network policies.

Integrated management of multiple wireless technologies
To deliver network access to all locations on a campus or district will often require using multiple wireless technologies: enterprise WiFi products indoors; mesh networks to cover outdoor areas, portable classrooms, athletic facilities and other areas; and point-to-point and point-to-multipoint products between buildings. AirWave provides IT a single console from which to manage all these technologies and more – dramatically reducing training requirements, support costs and complexity.

Extending the life of existing hardware to stretch limited capital budgets
At an educational institution, money spent on wireless infrastructure is money that cannot be spent for other pressing technology needs. As a result, schools often need their investment in wireless infrastructure to last 4-5 years or more... which may be longer than the hardware vendor even supports the product. AirWave specializes in supporting both current-generation and legacy products dating back to the earliest days of Wi-Fi – enabling you to keep managing your existing environment until you decide to upgrade.

Wireless networks that are deployed in multiple phases –often spread over many years
Universities and school districts typically install their wireless networks in multiple phases – starting with a few high-priority buildings and gradually expanding coverage over years.  As a result, schools often end up operating diverse networks with multiple generations of hardware products, often from multiple different vendors.  As a vendor-neutral solution that supports multiple generations of products from most leading brands of WiFi hardware, AirWave offers a single, comprehensive management solution even for networks that have been grown organically, over many years.

Tight installation schedules during breaks in the education calendar
The installation of the hardware in campus buildings must be done quickly, often during vacation periods, when installers must move fast, before the students and teachers return. AirWave facilitates fast provisioning of wireless hardware, automatically configuring each AP and controller as it is connected, according to policies established by you.

Detecting unauthorized ‘rogue’ access points affordably and efficiently
Students and teachers may bring their own wireless access points to connect to the school's network -- impacting the performance and opening a security breach. Neighbors may also have APs which show up within radio distance, and may or may not be benign.  Few schools can afford expensive IDS systems with hardware sensors, and with AirWave's RAPIDS module, they don’t need to – RAPIDS makes it easy to detect rogues anywhere on the network, without proprietary sensors.