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Look Ma … No Wires!
Students in NYIT's Central Islip dormitories are cutting the cord and embracing wireless networks, which NYIT tested, installed and activated during the summer.
More than 600 students who reside in the dorms can access the new wireless systems to check e-mail and conduct research using the Internet. "It's the greatest thing that has happened on our Central Islip campus since pasta by Whitsons," quips Susan Law, a sophomore in NYCOM's B.S./D.O. program. "NYIT has certainly come a long way."
That's for sure. The wireless networks are part of NYIT's ongoing initiative to enhance and expand its technology infrastructure (see related story, opposite page). Partners in the technology initiative include Apple Computer, Cablevision, Dell Computer, Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Oracle and Symbol Technologies, among other blue-chip technology providers.
For the dorm project, NYIT deployed 45 wireless access points (a.k.a. wireless antennae). The access points allow wireless laptops, handhelds and other mobile devices to access NYIT's network and the Internet, explains Brian Maroldo, director of technology at NYIT.
Each mobile device must be equipped with a wireless network card-which resembles a credit card and costs about $100-to communicate securely with the access points.
In addition to the mobility benefits, students praise the wireless networks' performance. "The connections are so much quicker than my dial-up modem at home," says Law. "With a laptop in hand, I can sit outside of Ambassador Hall without a care in the world and surf the Net. It's really convenient. I no longer have to walk to computer labs to read my e-mail."
NYIT's wireless networks are based on Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) hardware from Symbol, a $1 billion company based in Holtsville, N.Y.-slightly east of the Central Islip campus.
Wi-Fi is a technology standard that most leading PC makers and mobile device providers have endorsed over the last 12 to 18 months. As a result, NYIT students can choose from a wealth of Wi-Fi-enabled PCs, laptops and handheld devices.
Prior to Wi-Fi's arrival in 2000, many wireless PC networks were quite slow and often couldn't support full-motion video and sound.
NYIT will deploy additional wireless networks in cafeterias, libraries, labs, the Harry J. Schure Hall Quad and throughout NYCOM, according to Maroldo.
Moreover, NYIT is carefully evaluating a new generation of wireless networking gear that is five-times faster than current Wi-Fi products.
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