What drives attendance at our colleges and universities? Is it academics, maybe it’s tradition or a top tier academic program. What if I told you that 38% of students said that the quality of campus wifi was a deciding factor when choosing a school to attend?
In addition to this — about 30% of college students say that they would recommend a school solely based on the quality of the wifi.
This wasn’t always the case, however, things have changed at an unprecedented rate over the past 10 years. With the explosion of mobile devices and intelligent apps the number of clients or users continue to increase and expand across the current campus environment, requiring more and more bandwidth and causing increasingly challenging security concerns.
It's critical that our campus wireless networks support the present demand but are ready to meet the challenges of tomorrow by taking extra time planning their wireless network designs and ensuring the proper infrastructure is in place to enhance and compliment the core values and academic goals of the institution.
As any college or university CIO knows, part of their job is to help shape the future of their campus through development. In this case this means introducing the right innovations or technology to not only stay up-to-date but also remain competitive.
One way of doing this is through analytics. Whether in society or business, today’s world is driven by analytics and granular data. There are many solutions such as beacon technology paired with advanced analytic software that can transform business with deep user insights.
However, this is an entirely different conversation we will continue at another time, if you have questions you can always get in touch with us here.
Today we’re going to focus on a more traditional and just as valuable data-set.
In a recent survey and infographic from 7Signal, over 200 college students were polled to learn just how big of a role wifi plays in determining their overall college experience.
Below is an infographic showing the results.
What this data shows is that the quality of a university's wifi directly affects how students not only view their ability to succeed but the quality of the college or university itself.
Tweetable Moment: “9 out of 10 students say that reliable, high quality wifi is important to their academic success”
What can you do to make sure your campus wifi meets this new demand and expectations?
1. Goals
We always say that the application drives the infrastructure. It’s difficult to say exactly what kinds of solutions you might need if it’s unclear what you’re trying to do.
2. Analysis and Testing
It’s time to take stock of your current network. Through specialized testing and analysis such as application performance testing and mobility assessments you’ll know how well you stack up against the competition and what you need to focus to ensure you’re on the right path to mobility.
3. Planning and Design
The only way to keep pace with technology and the sheer numbers of clients hitting the network is through very detailed and careful planning. Why, because this way you only implement once and don’t have to go back ultimately frustrating your students and staff from simply from poor design.
A wireless site survey combined with the above will ensure you’re going to be ready when it comes time to deploy.
Having high quality, reliable campus wifi is more significant than ever before. Not only does it affect the overall success of the students and faculty but it also can affect the bottom line of the college or university. At SecurEdge, we’ve been helping hundreds of schools on their path to mobility, if you have any questions or would like to find out how we can analyze and optimize your current wireless network simply contact us here.
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