Future of Wireless at the UW

A new initiative will extend wireless access throughout the UW Seattle campus over the next three years (2005-2008).

• Topics on this page:
• A University-wide Centrally Managed Wireless Service
  • Locations Covered
  • Funding
• Deployment
  • Deployment, Operations, and Maintenance
  • Existing Locally Managed Wireless Networks
  • Interim Wireless Deployment
  • Technology
• About This Initiative
  • How the Initiative Was Developed
  • Wireless in the Classroom

A University-wide Centrally Managed Wireless Service

The initiative will create a university-wide centrally managed service that will provide:

• Widespread wireless access at all three UW campuses
• Central 24x7 management and support of the wireless network as an integral extension of the wired data network
• A single point of contact for customer service
• Consistent security and access controls
• Ongoing maintenance and operations support, including upgrades, for all three campuses

The initiative was announced on April 4, 2005 by Acting Provost David Thorud.

Locations Covered

• UW Seattle main campus, including the Health Sciences complex. (UW Tacoma already has wireless in several buildings and will soon extend it to the entire campus, and UW Bothell has wireless connectivity in classroom and library buildings.)
• Not Covered: UW Medical Center (which has its own plan), Residence Halls and other auxiliary spaces, off-campus sites. (The Office of Planning and Budgeting and UW Technology have been charged with coordinating with auxiliary units regarding funding for the spaces these groups manage.)

Funding

This initiative provides a sustainable funding plan to support wireless access on all three UW campuses.

The funding plan covers:

• Wireless installations throughout the Seattle campus (at the locations noted above)
• Ongoing maintenance and operations of the wireless networking on all three campuses (Seattle, Bothell, and Tacoma)

The plan calls for:

• $7.5 million in one-time capital funding over three years, to come from three sources:
  • Central funding for general academic space
  • Student Technology Fee funding for student spaces
  • Auxiliary enterprise funding for auxiliary space such as the Residence Halls and UW Medical Center. (The Office of Planning and Budgeting and UW Technology will coordinate with auxiliary units regarding funding for the spaces managed by these groups.)
• Ongoing funding for the maintenance and operation of the wireless network, and for periodic equipment replacement. Funding will come from a $2.40 per month increase in the basic communications/telephone rate phased in over three years as follows:
  • $0.80/month during Fiscal Year 2006
  • $0.80/month during Fiscal Year 2007
  • A final $0.80/month during Fiscal Year 2008

This plan was developed by the Office of Planning and Budgeting at the direction of the Provost.

Deployment

The order of wireless deployment will be determined by the Academic Technology Advisory Committee (A-TAC), which has recommended the following general priorities:

1. Shared gathering spaces that are used heavily such as the Microsoft Atrium in Computer Science & Engineering, Kane Hall lobby, Physics/Astronomy building lobby, Health Sciences T-Wing lobby, Suzzallo espresso, Electrical Engineering atrium, and E-Court in Health Sciences
2. Major libraries such as Suzzallo-Allen and the Engineering libraries
3. Technology-enabled classrooms
4. Major shared meeting rooms such as Walker Ames, University of Washington Club (previously known as the Faculty Club), Parrington Hall, Urban Horticulture, Waterfront Activities Center, and Loew 355

After extensive analysis and consultation, A-TAC has approved a list of recommended sites for the first phase of wireless deployment. For a list of phase I sites and more details about about the site selection process see:

• July 2005 memo from the Provost: Wireless Deployment Plan and Phase I Sites (PDF)
• A-TAC Wireless Advisory Group and Wireless Working Group Membership (PDF)

Deployment, Operations, and Maintenance

UW Technology has been charged with deploying, operating, and maintaining the wireless network.

The initiative calls for all new deployments of wireless infrastructure to be installed and maintained by UW Technology, as of April 2005.

Existing Locally Managed Wireless Networks

Existing locally managed wireless networks will be gradually replaced by the central wireless network as it is installed.

UW Technology has been charged with developing a plan for incorporating locally managed wireless networks into the centrally managed infrastructure.

For questions regarding departmental or unit wireless networks (or others), please contact UW Technology at customercare@u.washington.edu or phone 206.221.5000.

Interim Wireless Deployment

Departments with urgent needs to deploy limited wireless networking in advance of the Wireless Initiative deployment schedule and which have their own funding should contact customercare@u.washington.edu and see the Interim Wireless Deployment page.

The interim wireless deployment process is intended to address support for these immediate, one-time departmental needs for wireless as a stopgap until full building wireless deployment is scheduled through the UW Wireless Initiative. Interim deployments shall be limited in scope and quantity to avoid impact to UWI deployment schedules and resources.

Technology

As currently proposed, initial technology used for this initiative will include the following:

• 802.11b/g specification
• Existing UW authentication mechanisms (see EasyReg Technical Overview)
• Non-encrypted network

About This Initiative

Wireless connectivity has rapidly moved from a luxury to a necessity for many UW faculty, students, and staff. Representatives from these groups have indicated that providing wireless connectivity throughout the UW should be a priority.

Until this initiative was launched, the UW did not have an institutional approach to providing wireless access for all three campuses. Instead, individual departments and units were proceeding independently. As a result, what was evolving was a patchwork of potentially interfering wireless zones. This raised several concerns including:

• Inconsistent service and support for users
• Confusion about whom to call for support
• Inconsistent performance and reliability
• Inconsistent access control and security policies
• Increased security risks to the central network infrastructure

How the Initiative Was Developed

During 2004, discussions regarding the future of wireless networking at the UW took place at Board of Deans, University Technology Advisory Committee (U-TAC), Academic Technology Advisory Committee (A-TAC), and other UW technology and budget advisory groups. These groups recognized the importance of developing an institutional wireless approach that would provide:

• Consistent, sustainable, high-quality, university-wide wireless access
• Protect the integrity of the UW's network
• Support a technology-rich environment for learning and discovery

The wireless initiative is a result of these discussions. The Provost directed the Office of Planning and Budgeting to develop a funding plan to support the initiative and asked UW Technology to come up with a deployment, operations, and maintenance plan.

Wireless in the Classroom

Policies relating to the use of wireless in the classroom are under discussion in the A-TAC and the Faculty Council on Education Technology. Faculty and faculty committees interested in the issues raised by the deployment of this technology are encouraged to participate in these discussions.

Resources

• UW Wireless Graphics