Deployment of Canada's largest campus wireless network at the University of British Columbia

By August 2003, the University of British Columbia has completed the initial deployment of Canada's largest campus wireless network. Based upon the IEEE 802.11 standard and designed to provide ubiquitous coverage throughout all campus buildings and some outside areas, the network may eventually include between 1,200 and 1,500 access points, serve over 300 buildings and cover more than one million square metres. Deploying a new and evolving technology on this scale is a massive commitment involving not only core members of the wireless project team, but also university architects, network designers, vendors, external contractors, developers, researchers, and others. Particular challenges have included: (1) anticipating the demands which faculty, staff, and students may place upon the network, both now and in the future; (2) anticipating the future directions in which wireless LAN technology and standards might evolve and the downstream implications of the design decisions that we make today, and (3) devising ways to overlay new technology into existing environments without significant disruption to people and processes.