Ruckus Wireless Archives

Last year Boulder Country Club was looking for an upgrade to their wireless solution. The old system provided signal coverage but would overload and stop working during large events. The two primary areas of concern were the indoor dining hall and the outdoor pool area, both of which could have up to about 500 people.

JP Schwartz has success supporting high density wireless installations in schools with Ruckus Wireless hardware, so we decided to use the same system to meet the Clubs needs. We deployed about 12 access points in total, to ensure strong coverage on both 2.4 Ghz and 5.0 Ghz frequencies. By using gigabit connections to the access points we are able to ensure the wired network support the traffic load. We then programmed a private Club network and Guest network for security and bandwidth control.

While the network was installed almost a month ago, today’s Memorial Day pool party is the first outdoor event that really loaded the wireless. We are glad to report that while many people were on the outdoor network, there were no problems allowing everyone to enjoy the food, sun, and fun. JP Schwartz was the only one thinking about the wireless.

Blessed Sacrament Catholic School received funding last fall from the Archdiocese of Denver to do a pilot 1-to-1 iPad program in their middle school.

JP Schwartz worked with Greg Kruthaupt’s team headed on the technical side by Charlie Dorchester to enable use of the 80 iPads in this program. Our focus was a new Ruckus Wireless network, some cabling and switch upgrades, a wireless bridge between buildings, printing and a new Fortinet firewall. Using an explicit proxy setting on the firewall, we were able to protect the children from inappropriate web sites, even when the devices were taken home.

Greg’s team took care of everything else. They did a great job on the policy, training, configuration of the iPads, making application choices, and working with parents and students.

Today was a real joy to watch the teachers and students present some of what they accomplished in just a half school year of use. The end result was a great experience that was shared with the rest of the Archdiocese schools. I was impressed as they clearly enhanced learning for the students in a very short time while mixing new technology with their strong Faith based values. Of course, the entire presentation was done with a smart board, Apple TV, and the iPads.

We can hardly wait to see how the second year expands on this success.

Memorial Day Pool Party Wireless Success

Blessed Sacrament Catholic School – iPad 1-to-1 Pilot Results