9 Myths About Wi-Fi in K-12 Education

It’s easy to believe what people tell us. Call me gullible, but when my colleagues and friends tell me something, I generally believe them, without question, and without challenging the status quo. Like unicorns. I thought unicorns were real for quite some time (didn’t we all?) because that’s what someone told me when I was younger. Years later, with some research conducted and questions asked, I determined that unicorns indeed were NOT real (yet today, Rhinos are my favorite animal….. coincidence? I think not). I promise, I am not calling your friends and colleagues liars. But, I do recommend proper research and questioning take place before believing everything you hear, especially when making large purchase decisions. Like, implementing new Wi-Fi in your school district, for example. It turns out, there are MANY untruths floating around out there about school Wi-Fi deployments. We did the research for you, so you can make smart decisions the next time you go to upgrade your network infrastructure, or just want to implement new APs. We identified 9 common myths about school Wi-Fi deployments. Here are the first three for you to consider:

1. Want to boost Wi-Fi speeds? You’ll need to replace your wired switches.

It’s well know that as our classrooms become more digital, there is more demand placed on the network. You might as well just accept that you’re going to have to continuously rip and replace your wired network to keep up, right? Not exactly. New switching platforms are built to be scalable, allowing for continuous bandwidth upgrades without needing to continuously rip and replace existing infrastructure.

2. One AP per classroom provides optimal performance

Just not true. Adding APs to a Wi-Fi deployment can add capacity to a point, but if you add too many, they become counter-productive. When you over-deploy APs, your users’ smartphones, tablets, and laptops will “see” more than one AP covering the same channel, leading to device interference. Don’t create new problems by buying into the “one AP per classroom” myth. The best way to really get the best performance? Commission a properly done site survey before choosing AP installation locations.

3. Cloud-Managed Wi-Fi makes it simple to deliver a great Wi-Fi experience

It’s tempting to hear “cloud-managed wireless LAN” and assume that the complexities of a traditional wireless network magically go away. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Here’s the thing: cloud management does exactly what the name says: manage your Wi-Fi infrastructure, and although that can make life easier for onsite IT staff, it doesn’t make performance problems go away. It can actually make them worse. That’s because many cloud-managed Wi-Fi solutions, aiming to keep prices low, cut corners in their APs. Fortunately, some newer cloud-managed Wi-Fi solutions provide the high performance and reliability you need, with simple deployment and management through the cloud. Don’t stop now, read on! Download the full white paper to learn the remaining Wi-Fi deployment myths, so you can avoid buying into them the next time you’re making a purchase decision. To learn more about Ruckus in primary education, visit our website.