Smartpass assists Avans Hogescholen

Juniper Networks® SmartPass assisted Avans Hogescholen in building education inspiration with a modern wireless network to allow students to study whenever and wherever it suits them.

Developing Ambition and Talent
Avans Hogeschool positions itself in the educational market with the core values inspiration, security and openness. In Breda, s’-Hertogenbosch and Tilburg, this organisation provides approximately 23,000 students with around 40 higher vocational education courses. Avans Hogeschool has more than 2,000 staff spread over 19 academies and 5 support services, making the organisation comparable with a large company. The fact that the stated core values are no empty words is evident from the extent to which Avans is investing in an effective and simultaneously inspiring learning and working environment. Innovative examples include the Xplora learning centre with superfast PCs and network connections, a digital learning environment with a knowledge base which is accessible 24 hours a day, multimedia facilities, mediatheque and informal meeting places.

The Hogeschool is responding to a huge demand with these facilities, which is apparent from the fact that large numbers of students also use the digital learning environment together at weekends. As students like to work together on projects and study where and when they like, Avans has installed a wireless network. Although this initiative was originally intended for wireless laptops, it is now also being used by a large number of PDAs and is also suitable for wireless telephony. This is the college’s response to great demand, as evidenced by the fact that every Sunday afternoon over 1,000 students are busy in the digital learning environment Blackboard.

As students like to work on projects in teams and like to study wherever and whenever it suits them best, Avans recently commissioned Vosko Networking to install a modern wireless network. Although this initiative was originally launched for wireless laptop usage, it is now also used by many PDAs and the network has been made ready for wireless telephony.

Experience and Technology Determine the Choice of Supplier
Avans Hogeschool originally requested tenders from three ICT suppliers, who proposed solutions from 3Com, Cisco and Juniper Networks® respectively. In the initial selection round, all the tenders were compared on the basis of a large number of objective criteria. As the 3Com products are produced by Juniper, the shortlist actually featured two tenders offering the same equipment. After a thorough comparison, the project group unanimously selected the Juniper solution. The main reasons for this choice were the professional approach to the entire selection process and the proven functionality of the Juniper equipment. “The same equipment had already been used for similar large wireless networks at the NHTV Hogeschool in Breda and Schiphol airport, amongst others”,

says Ina Kluijtmans, ICT management coordinator at Avans. “Experience of these types of implementations was very important for us. We were looking for a specialist who could meet this challenge and are very pleased with our choice”. Other important criteria included turn-key installation for the various locations and guaranteed support for Eduroam authentication. In addition, the measurements to determine the required number of access points and the phased project plan were also carried out professionally.

Increasing Mobility
As a result of the learning environment which is accessible everywhere 24 hours a day, teaching at Avans is no longer tied to a specific location. Students now work on their documents and group assignments in various locations. ICT plays an important role in this mobile form of education. “Until a few years ago, students mainly used desktop computers in special study rooms, but we are now seeing more and more students working on their own laptops”, says Peter Havekes, ICT developer at Avans. “Laptop use amongst students and staff has grown hugely over the last few years, and recently even doubled in a single academic year. And of course we want to be able to offer the right facilities for this”. Amongst other things, these facilities consist of the Avans wireless network. As a component of the newly-constructed main sites in Breda and Tilburg, the aim was to create a campus wide Wi-Fi infrastructure giving all 25,000 students and staff in and around the Hogeschool buildings access to the Avans network. The Avans Hogeschool wireless network now consists of seven Juniper Networks WLC200 Wireless LAN Controllers and around 425 WLA Series Wireless LAN Access Points. This distributed wireless infrastructure is managed using Juniper Networks Ringmaster Software from a central management station in Breda.

Project Challenges
As a result of the diverse environments, the Avans project presented a number of challenges. In ’s-Hertogenbosch, existing Wi-Fi networks had to be upgraded, whilst in Breda and Tilburg newly constructed locations were to be delivered in phases, including the network section. In addition, the Xplora architecture presented some rather unusual circumstances. Xplora is a multimedia study and meeting point which consists of a large open space with inclined steel walls and a suspended floor. The radio signals bounce round the room, as it were, meaning that users can experience problems with network coverage on their laptops.

About Juniper Networks
Juniper Networks is in the business of network innovation. From devices to data centers, from consumers to cloud providers, Juniper Networks delivers the software, silicon and systems that transform the experience and economics of networking. The company serves customers and partners worldwide. Additional information can be found at www.juniper.net.