University of Chichester in the UK Chooses Aerohive's Next Generation Wireless Architecture

SUNNYVALE, Calif., January 12, 2011 - Aerohive Networks, creators of the award-winning cooperative control wireless LAN (WLAN) architecture, has been chosen by the University of Chichester to implement its wireless e-learning network. The university chose Aerohive’s wireless architecture following a strategic review of both existing equipment and resources, as well as the future requirements of the university’s students and staff.

The University of Chichester has successfully deployed the WLAN in high density student areas, including the learning resource center, student union, restaurant and cafe, and almost all teaching areas across its campus at Chichester. The WLAN will be extended to the Bognor Regis campus in early 2011, and will be an important facility when the newly refurbished Georgian Dome building opens in the spring to house the School of Enterprise Management and Leadership. The plan is eventually to create a wireless mesh architecture throughout the entire university.

News Facts

• The University of Chichester, located in the South East of England, required a wireless network that could successfully negotiate challenges such as listed buildings¹ with very limited network accessibility. It also needed a solution that could expand with the university as it builds for the future, supporting the drive for greater engagement with local businesses and the community.
• Aerohive’s cooperative control WLAN architecture beat competition from Aruba to take over from the wireless APs previously installed. Its controller-less solution gave the university the flexibility, scalability and ease of use it needed to successfully install Wi-Fi across the two campuses.
• A further benefit of the Aerohive distributed architecture is its ability to intuitively support, even in highly populated areas, the various mobile devices and applications being used by students, to stream video, voice and large files without contention.
• The ability to grant temporary access to visitors, whom only require access to the network for a short period of time, was also a compelling feature for the university. Wireless access, per user, can be centrally managed and revoked by the IT team.
• Previously, the University of Chichester had in place a number of Cisco wireless APs across the two campuses. These proved problematic to manage due to a limited knowledgebase and no central monitoring portal. With the Aerohive solution, it is possible to manage the network from a single source 24/7, meaning any issues or queries can be resolved instantly.

Comments

"Thanks to Aerohive’s controller-less WLAN solution, the rollout has proved easy to manage and maintain, and met all our critical success factors," said James Mason, Head of Operations, University of Chichester.

"We wanted to make it as simple as possible for students to access the network, and ensure a high-quality wireless experience. This has resulted in the uptake being high. We are very happy with the deployment. The plan next is to complete a second rollout to blanket the whole university with wireless connectivity, as well as in the new building to be opened in the next few months," concluded Mason.

About The University of Chichester

The University of Chichester has been providing higher education since 1839 and has two campuses, in Chichester and Bognor Regis. The university currently has more than 5,000 students and at least 1,000 members of staff. Research shows that the University of Chichester and Chichester College contribute over £92.3 million to the local economy.

Consistently ranking highly in industry surveys, Chichester was rated the best modern university in the UK for student experience (The Complete University Guide 2010) and has the highest level of student satisfaction of any modern university (National Student Survey 2009). Over 94% of the university’s students are in a job or undertaking further study six months after graduating (HESA 2009).

About Aerohive Networks
Aerohive unleashes the potential of enterprise Wi-Fi, enabling customers to stop buying copper, to move applications to the air, and to maximize workforce productivity. The company's award-winning cooperative architecture eliminates costly controllers, saving money and providing unprecedented resiliency, up to 10X better application performance, and an opportunity to start small and expand without limitations. Aerohive was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif. The company's investors include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Northern Light Venture Capital. For more information, please visit www.aerohive.com, call us at 408-510-6100 or follow us on Twitter @Aerohive, subscribe to our blog or become a fan on our Facebook page.

⁽¹⁾ A listed building may not be demolished, extended or altered without special permission from the local planning authority (Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listed_building)