Wireless Past, Present and Future. University of Auckland Robert Beattie

Campus Environment We are a small town in the Auckland area.  4,000 plus staff.  30,000 plus students.  4 main campus sites  300 plus building and structures.

Infrastructure  Telecommunications  HVAC  Water  Sewage  Power

Telecommunications The University of Auckland has a history of investment in infrastructure technology.  VM (virtual machines)  EVF (virtual firewalls)  Metro Area Networks.(10Gb)  Wired Networks.  Wireless Networks.

Wireless is not new  Telemetry.  Point to Point links.  Wireless access points.  Special projects.

Why is Wireless so popular?  Freedom  New way to deliver information  Students  Faculties  New devices are wireless capable.  Potential cost savings

Over the past few years  Explosion in Wireless equipment.  Seen as new by the general public  User awareness of wireless.  AD HOC installations.  No Security.  Chaos

Bringing order to chaos  Working group  Technology choice  We chose thick AP  Web site  User, client documentation  Standards and Security

Where we installed Wireless  Common areas  Library  Lecture theatres  Meeting rooms  Office areas

Lessons learned from the project  Client set up is not user friendly.  Issues with end user devices.  Network Access Points (AP) are easy to steal.  Communication with the community is vital. Wireless is largely about where we put the Access Points and how we physically secure them.

Lessons learned from the project  Limited channel capacity.  Bandwidth will be a challenge.  Manual site survey and deployment are labour intensive.  Need to cost effectively increase AP density and find a way to load balance traffic.

User feedback  General satisfaction with the system  They want more  No issues with throughput  Too expensive  Connecting to network could be improved.  Easy access for guests needed.  Some lectures believe it is disruptive technology.

Users want some changes  Implement a guest system.  More throughput  More coverage  Make it all free  Ease of use for authentication and encryption  Self service model

When planning to deploy Wireless ensure that you know  How much bandwidth is available.  How secure is wireless  Who are the users  What equipment is needed  How you will manage the Wireless System

Radio Spectrum o Radio Spectrum is a limited resource. Microwave band ISM Band 2.4Ghz UNNI Band 5.8Ghz

Current Wireless Standards  b (2.4Ghz). Highly prevalent (Most laptops used to ship with a b card) Many devices operate in this spectrum Approximately 6-7 Mbps throughput.  g (2.4Ghz). Highly prevalent (Most Laptops now ship with a G card) Many devices operate in this spectrum Approximately Mbps throughput, but default to b if a legacy b client associates.

Emerging Wireless Standards  a (5.8Ghz). Less prevalent (A cards usually have to be selected) Less crowded air space, higher number of clear channels Approximately Mbps throughput.  n Not a ratified standard. Proprietary solutions predominate Promises longer range, and higher data rates (480 Mbps of throughput) Not always a reality  “WiMAX” Very new technology Designed for “last mile” access. Has no support for “Roaming” at this point. In draft form.

How secure is Wireless oSecurity oRotating 128bit WEP keys with TKIP and LEAP/EAP. oWireless network has its own VLAN oAuthentication o802.1x for authorisation. oLDAP for access to Net Account

Securing your Wireless  What is your goal with security? Keep non-university users off the network Prevent users from seeing each others traffic Prevent users connecting to each other over wireless. Access control on a user basis Keep viruses off the network  The answers to those questions determine what type of security you should implement  The more security you implement, the more steps you require your users to follow, the less user friendly more it becomes

Who are the users  Students  Staff  Guests

Traffic Planning Low traffic Many users Coverage based Heavy traffic Few users Traffic Based

Wireless Architectures Blanket coverage Using large gain APs or Multi-radios AP’s to cover spaces Thin AP’s Each AP connects “Physically or logically” to a central controller. The controller manages the APs as a complete group. Thick AP’s Each AP is a complete autonomous unit. It operates and is managed individually Present Under development Future

An example  Average throughput of a g AP is 22-27Mbps.  Average Class size is 30 Students  Assuming every student is downloading a file at the same time, it works out to about +/-1Mbps per student.  So you would deploy 1 AP for this classroom.

Site Survey  Site Surveys are essential for any well planned deployment.  Software can be purchased that will perform a “theoretical” survey. However, software does not provide all the answers.  Time spent in undertaking a physical survey is time you don’t have to spend diagnosing problems. “ Get it right the first time”

Installation  Wireless AP are attractive items  Discrete installs  External aerials  Aesthetics  Accessibility

Centralised Technical Management For successful wireless systems you must…….  Centrally manage the technology platform  Security  Coverage  Forward provisioning  Manage the air space  Proactively management of the network

Decentralised Service Management For successful wireless systems you must enable the user to manage the service layer.  Self service  Enable the faculties  Enable conference organisers  Visiting guests  Meeting rooms  Contractors

Wireless Vision Provide wireless access with simple plug & play capabilities that require no laptop or device re-configuration and no IT skills or resources to establish the connection. “ Its got to be easy to use ”

Central controller Enterprise Network DMZ Wired Guest Wired Employee Wireless Guest Wireless Employee Internet Wireless Architecture Thanks to Cisco Systems

Guest client connection process Central controller Wired or Wireless Network Internet, , VPN, etc. 1. Guest starts web browser 2. Controller redirects to self service portal screen 3. User enters choice and authentication information 4. controller authorizes the user, establishes connection, and accounts for usage 5. End user free to browse the Internet, , VPN, etc. Self Service “Just click on the services you want” Access Codes RADIUS Prepaid Credit Card Hostel PMS Thanks to Cisco Systems

Eduroam o International Education inter-institutional roaming. o A guest access mechanism. o Allows visitors to use their own credentials to access agreed services from your network. o In the process of being configured.

Challenges o Predictable wireless performance. o Cost effective deployment model o Robust multilayered security o Technology churn. o Can the existing investment grow to meet future service demands?

Future trends  New technology will replace or supplement current types.  There will be many more highly portable device types on the campus, possibly in the thousands  Some areas will be totally wireless.  There will be wireless telephones in use.  Roaming will be important.  The PABX, WLAN and Mobile Networks will converge.

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