Bad Wi-Fi bedevils education

The education and academic sectors are still wasting money on inferior Wi-Fi solutions that simply don’t meet the needs of student.

According to Quentin Daffarn, managing director at UC-Wireless, schools and universities are in serious need of Wi-Fi solutions that work, yet continue to fall prey to sales pitches that promise price reduction but that fall short in quality. It is with this in mind that the company will be showcasing and putting Wi-Fi on display at EduWeek on 10th and 11th July at the Sandton Convention Centre.

Education institutions often don’t have the exhaustive budgets of their enterprise counterparts, which means they sometimes have to settle for compromises when it comes to selecting technology solutions,” states Daffarn. “Remember at an academic institution there is an increase in the density of connections where a couple of thousand, let alone hundreds of tablets have to connect at the same time.

After investing in a solution and spending sometimes in excess of R100K – R150K the network can still be slow and students wont be able to access it. With the Ruckus solution we are demonstrating at EduWeek, we will be showcasing how academics and enterprises can spend wisely, and benefit from a far superior Wi-Fi solution, even though it may cost the same or more, the performance is poles apart, but can be deployed to stage or optimise available budgets.

According to Daffarn, the first critical step to any effective e-learning platform is the installation of a robust, reliable, fast and seamless enterprise-grade high-density Wi-Fi solution.

But the proof is in the pudding and UC-Wireless is currently working with many educational sites across the country in order to help them better their Wi-Fi experience so that they can improve the overall delivery or roll-out of e-learning, regardless of the solution envisaged as Ruckus works with all aspects of e-learning. This is particularly relevant in an education environment that is proving to benefit from tablet based textbooks that reduce the cost, barrier to entry and the time to deliver, a uniquely South African problem.

There are so many wireless solutions out there that companies could say they are spoiled for choice, but the reality is that often you need to double the quantity of your investment in order to be able to experience the quality you require,” states Tiens Lange, business unit director at Westcon Communications Solutions.

It is with this that partners like UC-Wireless are providing their customers superior solutions through the delivery of Ruckus Wireless technologies. With the current investment in R&D as well as its ongoing development of new technologies that are changing the face of the wireless industry, the vendor really is a superior alternative for local and African customers,” adds Lange.

Daffarn is encouraging both enterprise and education customers alike who are experiencing challenges with their Wi-Fi or considering rollouts in vertical markets from retail, healthcare to mining and industrial applications. If you pop in to EduWeek you will be able to view the power of the Ruckus Wireless solutions live as UC-Wireless, who operate in the above verticals in addition to education, demonstrate the power of Wi-Fi.

EduWeek is Africa’s premier education event, boasting an exhibition of over 85 exhibitors, free to attend technical workshops and a high level conference. Now entering its eight year, EduWeek has achieved continued success and sustained growth by consistently attracting the highest quality of exhibitor in the expo, and ensuring our content is up to date and relevant for our visitors and delegates.

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