Wireless Technology to Classroom

Case studies:  Kau Yan School Learning Center

Kau Yan School

Due to the encouragement of Education Department, the first trial of electronic teaching will be started in 2010. Personal computer to individual is no longer a problem to school, but high capacity usage under limited resources is the challenge to IT staff. They overextend the coverage by increasing AP density without predictable user base. The unplanned installation induces channel interference, signal attenuation and traffic jam.

Leapa has been of help to address all hidden problems by deploying Extricom’s WLAN to ensure coverage, mobility and future upgrade. The project began by a multi-media library, which can easily accommodate 50+ students, staff, parents and guests. In this 5000 feet library, a EXSW-1200 WLAN switch and 7 EXRP-40E access points (4 radios APs) cover the entire area.

  

  

Post-implementation: Further application

Extricom’s fully centralized architecture only needs to configure the single master switch to place the entire network into operation. While one class uses her own SSID/channel in lesson, the other classes use different layers for examination. Teacher, class and guest are identified by user login and everyone “own” her WLAN with security guaranteed. For more advanced application like IP camera and Video conferencing, the central switch is fast enough to handle high traffic uplink. The speed can be further enhanced by plug and play Exticom 802.11n series APs (EXRP-40En) and switch (EXSW-800G).

Finding the right solution

Technology aside, the aim of wireless classroom is to encourage student self-learning and reduce teacher’s workload. We have successfully fulfilled the objective of school on electronic teaching by deploying a reliable, flexible and robust WLAN system. Start from today, discard the old cell-based solution, move on to the era of Channel Blanket Technology.