More than 90% of all public universities run some sort of wireless network, and more than 10% of those provide campuswide public access, not just in a library or student center.

Source: Campus Computing Project

Drexel University in Philadelphia was the first university to require students to use microcomputers in 1983, and in 2000, it was the first major university to complete a fully wireless campus network indoors and out. Drexel installed some 300 antennas across its three primary campuses.

Colleges and universities are embracing wireless-networking technology with an enthusiasm that gives new meaning to the term "academic freedom." In fact, says Charles Bartel, director of network services at Carnegie Mellon University, wireless connectivity offers so many benefits for students and faculty alike that its adoption on every campus is only a matter of time.

Bartel has overseen the Carnegie Mellon "Wireless Andrew" network from its 1994 launch (using pre-802.11 technology) through its current incarnation, which covers 4 million square feet of floor and ground space and serves 1,700 users from nearly 700 802.11b access points.

As one of the most seasoned wireless-campus veterans, Bartel often speaks about wireless networking to fellow educational-IT managers. When colleagues admit that installing a wireless network seems daunting, he tells them: "It's going to be deployed on your campus one way or another. It's up to you whether you deploy it yourself or someone else comes in and does it for you, then tells you how you should support it."

Bartel recommends that campus IT teams take control of their wireless destiny. He suggests they start by enrolling anyone who'll be maintaining the network in a wireless-network design class—either in their own school or in a wireless-design certification program offered by a vendor or professional organization.

The obvious advantage is strength in numbers: Multiple designers can mean faster planning and deployment. Perhaps more important, design training speeds the mental shift required to move between the tangible, linear world of wired LANs and the ethereal, 3-D realm of the unwired. When you're troubleshooting a wireless network, it's invaluable to understand design issues such as optimal access point placement and the interaction of signals with one another, with physical objects, and with potential sources of interference.

A working knowledge of wireless-network design is all that most campus IT teams need to get started on deployment, Bartel says. But he offers the following gems of practical wisdom, gleaned over a decade of experience.