Lamar Goes Big with Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi in Campus-wide 802.11ac Upgrade

A member of the Texas State University system and one of the fastest growing universities in Texas, Lamar University (Lamar) needed faster and better Wi-Fi everywhere to deal with the growth of smart mobile devices and students, faculty, and staff demanding wireless access. Based in Beaumont, Texas, Lamar is situated on a massive 270-acre campus about 90 miles east of Houston. Until recently, Wi-Fi at Lamar was provided simply on a best efforts basis. Conventional access points were littered throughout select buildings. But as more and more curriculum went digital and students and faculty moved online, something needed to change.

Client densities and capacity demands for Wi-Fi were exploding. So was Lamar’s legacy Wi-Fi network. Lamar needed a new cost effective 802.11ac Wi-Fi infrastructure that would provide pervasive coverage and gigabit-class performance to more than 14,000 students and faculty across some 64 buildings on campus.

Not only were personal Wi-Fi powered devices now ubiquitous, but Lamar was quick to realize that a robust, reliable, and fast wireless network was critical to recruiting students, becoming one of the top deciding factors in the decision making process and essential in the competitive higher education market.