1. WiFi Open Forum Pat Burns, VPIT; Greg Redder, ACNS & Lance Li Puma, Chair UTFAB Monday, Feb. 23, 2014 Morgan Library Events Hall 5-6:30 PM 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum1

2. Outline So what’s up with networking at CSU? So what’s the deal with our wireless network? “WiFi is hard!” So, how do we fix it together? UTFAB proposal 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum2

3. Wired Network Status 3 Years ago, we were falling behind in network capacity to buildings SPARC request and funding to upgrade building connections from 100 Meg to 1 or 10 Gig (1 year ahead of schedule) Led to oversaturation of 1 Gig CSU Backbone NSF grant of $486k Upgrade backbone from 1 Gig to 10 Gig Deploy a 40/100 Gig research network Deploy dynamic routing for researchers (DYNES) Upgrade Wide Area Network from 10 Gig to 30 Gig Other responsibilities too: new buildings, fiber, security, firewalls, authN, … 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum3

4. Our Backbone Network: ~10X Upgrade 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum4

5. Network Upgrade & Research (DMZ) @ 40/100 Gig BiSONBiSON FRGP Research Networks Internet Border 1 Border 2 AFTER Production LAN Core 2Core 1 Campus 10 Gig Core Routing Cluster DYNES Server & Storage, FDT “Research LAN” Commodity Users & Researchers (typ.) Dynamic VLANs 3 ea. 10 Gbps Wave DYNES IDC 10 Gbps Research Connections (typ.) 40 or 100 Gig? WAN Research Backbone 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum5

6. Voice over IP (VoIP) Project 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum6

7. 2014-02-24 WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum 7 ACNS Networking - 2000 Internet OC-3 Modem pool 5 routers, 1 ATM switch Internet2 16K computers

8. 2014-02-24 WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum 8 ACNS Networking – Jan. 2006 Internet Internet2 National Lambda Rail Gigabit Fort Collins Community Network Bison North Bison South Packet Shapers Border Firewall 300 APs VPN Video Conf.VoIP Surveillance City and County Life & Safety 28K computers Monitor 1,400 devices Core Routers

9. Size of our WiFi Environment 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum9

10. Wireless Access Points (Antennas) > 1,200 Antennas In >100 buildings All funded with 1X $ (no replacement) Some > 6 yrs. old 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum10

11. Simultaneous WiFi Usage Also, Speed of Each Device Increasing Simultaneously! 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum11

12. UTFAB Funding > $1M over 5 Years 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum12

13. Networking Staffing Wired: 4 FTE 1,100 devices WiFi: 2 FTE 1,200 devices ACNS Cannot Reallocate Any More Staff 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum13

14. Educational Campaign: Feb. 2014 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum14

15. Misalignment 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum15 WiFi Needs: Enormous growth No. of devices Speed/device Budgets: All 1-X Have not kept up

16. WiFi is Hard Greg Redder, NOC Manager, ACNS 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum16

17. WiFi Architecture 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum17

18. Frequencies, Channels, Protocols 2 Frequencies: 2.4 GHz 5.0 GHz – less interference from commodity devices Problems: 2.4 GHz most common/popular but highly influenced by cordless phones, microwaves, humans! 5.0 GHz….not quite as bad 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum18

19. Channels 2.4 GHz has 3 usable channels 5 GHz has ~23 usable channels Problem: Devices cannot talk at the same time – wireless is a “shared” medium (saturates easily) 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum19

20. Wireless Access Point Protocols: “a” runs at 5GHz up to 54 Mbits/sec “b” runs at 2.4GHz up to 11 Mbits/sec (but Least Common Denominator) “g” runs at 2.4GHz up to 54 Mbits/sec “n” runs at 2.4GHz and 5GHz up to 150 Mbits/sec “ac” phase 1 runs at 5 GHz up to 1.3 Gbits/sec “ac” phase 2 runs at 5 GHz up to 7 Gbits/sec Problem: Lots of devices + lots of protocols = hard to support. 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum20

21. Additional Difficulties Drivers can be very problematic, especially new ones released by Apple! Configurations of devices not preferring the right network Working on solutions to reduce the number of choices, and to help user devices auto-select preferred networks and frequencies Old devices supporting only older protocols Changes in space, requests for wireless in arcane areas (e.g. subbasements) Interference: TVs with WiFi, rogues, humans, legacy wireless devices 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum21

22. Difficulties (continued) Dynamic nature of intervening materials, including humans Much higher density of devices, overwhelming older WiFi radios Much higher speeds per device, overwhelming older WiFi radios higher capacity = need for additional infrastructure, e.g. PoE connections per wireless AP, gigabit or higher speed connections to buildings Changes in technology: higher capacity = higher frequency = lower penetration = new WiFi grid! “Organic” growth, unknown age of devices in the various buildings, the type of WiFi Access Point devices, etc. 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum22

23. Summary WiFi is critically important to CSU Our WiFi environment is significantly underfunded Poor WiFi coverage in some areas: density, proximity, protocols Need to inventory/categorize our WiFi devices as to model, type, and age WiFi needs to be on a regular replacement cycle But, we need first to catch up, over the next 1-2 years 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum23

24. How do we fix it together? Pending: eliminate user logins for guests “Catch up” - Replace older WiFi devices to get to a regular refresh cycle Requires higher density = more devices = more maintenance cost “Refresh” – Establish a regular refresh cycle after we “catch up” Add staff to catch up and then to sustain the refresh cycle Educational campaign and signage (underway) 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum24

25. Additional Resources Needed Central IT (CSU) $385k 1-X to catch up $75k/yr. staffing (add 1 FTE) $50k/yr. increased maintenance costs (for more WiFi devices) UTFAB ~$280k/yr. WiFi budget increase 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum25

26. Central IT: CSU Budget Request Base ($/yr.)1-time ($) 1.Add 1 FTE WiFi support$75,000/yr. 2. Additional Maintenance$50,000/yr. 3. WiFi Upgrades$385,000 TOTALS$125,000/yr.$385,000 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum26

27. UTFAB Continue current allocation to WiFi $280k/yr. additional allocation to WiFi $5/student-semester UTF increase proposed 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum27

28. 2014-02-24WiFi & UTFAB Open Forum28 Any Questions?