Brockenhurst College Moves To Aruba To Deliver Secure Centralized Wireless Connectivity Across 27 Acre Campus

WLAN EVENT, LONDON, April 21, 2005 - Brockenhurst College, one of the top performing higher education colleges in the UK, has selected Aruba Networks to replace its existing distributed wireless technology deployment.

Aruba's centralized mobility controller system will provide secure mobile computing capabilities to its 3,500 staff and students throughout Brockenhurst's 27 acre campus over the next 12 months.

Brockenhurst began deploying wireless technology in a piecemeal fashion in 2003, but is now undertaking a system-wide migration to a centralized architecture from Aruba to increase the performance, security and ongoing management of its entire wireless infrastructure. Aruba's wireless LAN system provides a seamless overlay on top of the existing wired network with no physical or logical reconfiguration.

"The decision to migrate to a centrally switched 802.11a network after two years was primarily driven by a desire for increased performance and manageability," said Brian Bashford, IT support team leader at Brockenhurst College. "We wanted to expand our wireless capabilities but were already finding it hard to manage the increasing number of access points we were installing. As the expansion continued, we were losing control over issues such as user access rights."

Brockenhurst installed an Aruba 2400 mobility controller and 34 centrally configured ‘thin' APs. Aruba's technology provides wireless network access to users as well as performing RF monitoring functions to prevent against wireless attacks and to detect areas within the campus that experience poor coverage or interference.

"The Aruba system also allows us to more easily manage and better secure the network from a single physical location, providing a full view and complete control over authenticating users, and defining guest, security and access policies," added Brian. "This is essential for us, as we want the college staff to be granted access to specific college resources, but to restrict student and visitor access to the same information."

"Previously, users were frustrated with the availability of the wireless network," said Mr Bashford. "With the Aruba system, not only has downtime been cut dramatically, but if there are any problems, Aruba's RF monitoring detects them instantly."

"Brockenhurst College is a pioneer in deploying cutting edge technology in education, and we are delighted that they have chosen to upgrade with Aruba," said Bob Vickers, head of sales UK, Aruba Networks. The ability for staff and students to have secure and high performance Internet access throughout the entire campus is a logical extension of the college's overall IT strategy."

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