bandwidth

Innovation corner: Bandwidth headaches and solutions


Higher education officials usually avoid words like “perplexing” and “intractable” when discussing campus challenges with reporters, but those words have cropped up time and again in my interviews about bandwidth demand.

bandwidthIt’s bandwidth demand, that spiked a few years ago and has steadily risen on campuses large and small. Students are bringing a handful of web-connected devices to school, and they’ve come to expect uninterrupted connection to high-speed networks no matter what.

Campus technology officials say the response is often expensive, time-intensive, and stressful for school IT departments.

A 2013 national survey breaks down exactly which devices are using the most bandwidth on campuses. The prevalence of tablets — once a rarity — has wreaked havoc at many schools. A recent higher-ed survey, the “State of ResNet” reports, breaks down exactly which devices are using the most bandwidth on campuses.

Eighty-four percent of respondents to the ResNet Report said tablets are the biggest drain on their campus’s bandwidth, with 75 percent saying laptops and desktops are the main culprit.

Six in 10 said internet-connected Blu-Ray players are to blame for bandwidth woes. Sixty-three percent pointed to smartphones and 61 percent said video games are a central issue in maintaining reliable bandwidth for every student.

Perhaps most alarming for universities: Half of campuses said the money spent on satiating students’ broadband needs for their laptops, smart phones, tablet computers, and video game consoles is never recovered through tuition or student fees.

“There is an expectation right now among students of, ‘Any device, any time, as much as we want,’” said Joe Harrington, director of network services at Boston College (BC). “This has [IT officials] back on their heels a little bit, looking for ways to deal with this proactively rather than reactively.”

Here are four solutions to the ever-present bandwidth problem in higher education. Check out each one and let me know if your campus has used a certain company and service in addressing bandwidth demand. Email me at dcarter@ecampusnews.com.

(Next page: Solutions to bandwidth headaches in higher education)

BridgeWave Communications: This company has helped colleges and universities address students’ insatiable need for more bandwidth with point-to-point gigabit ethernet wireless solutions that have been deemed “future proof” in education circles. BridgeWave’s Flex4G-UHA has been designed to alleviate the strain on backhaul connections by combining advanced radio and modem capabilities with carrier-grade ethernet features. It’s the sort of solution that could help campuses deal with bandwidth demand today, and in the coming years.

Avaya: With 20-gigabit uplinks built into each switch stack, Avaya has helped many schools — including Olds College — better deal with bandwidth issues throughout campus. Virtual desktops and videoconferencing, along with the jump in web-connected mobile devices, have strained college networks; Avaya’s solutions are designed to tackle these problems. Olds College, for example, has bolstered bandwidth while slashing the cost of managing the campus network.

Enterasys Networks: This company has helped colleges handle inevitable spikes in bandwidth demand with its Mobile IAM (Identity and Access Manager) solution, which delivers a cost-effective, easy-to-manage network that provides complete visibility. “We needed a complete network overhaul to not only keep pace with current connectivity demands, but also provide enough bandwidth for future growth,” said Susan McHugh, executive director of Information Services at Mount Wachusett Community College, which uses Enterasys solutions to support the school’s bring your own device (BYOD) policy.

Unite Private Networks: Providing universities with scalable network solutions ideal for regulatory compliance from state to state, Unite Private Networks gives campus IT officials a high level of control. These private networks help colleges avoid bandwidth sharing that can sap connectivity for students and faculty.

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