Reynoldsburg City Schools

Feeling the Need for Speed and Capacity, Reynoldsburg City Schools Makes Wholesale Move to RUCKUS® 802.11ac Smart Wi-Fi

Just east of Columbus, Ohio covering 14 square miles, Reynoldsburg City School District serves over 7,000 students with 650 staff across 15 K-12 schools, using technology as a key enabler for delivering a 21st century education.

Reynoldsburg uses blended learning strategies to best meet the needs of individual students. Teachers leverage online access and digital tools to deliver targeted lessons for various students while simultaneously working directly with other small groups or individual students. “At any given time, every student will access digital curriculum or content that is cloud based, so reliable wireless access has become as important as chairs and desks,” said Will Kerr, IT Director for Reynoldsburg City Schools.

Like many schools, Reynoldsburg had launched 1:1 initiatives that provide students with Chromebooks and tablets. Consequently, reliable, fast and pervasive wireless connectivity quickly became a central issue for the district as more users and devices were accessing the network. But while their blended learning approach was delivering great results, the existing Wi-Fi network wasn’t.

Requirements
  • An 802.11ac Wi-Fi infrastructure that provides enough performance to support the long term mobile computing requirements of each school
  • An intuitive, centralized and robust WLAN management platform
  • Higher capacity client support per AP
  • Seamless integration with its iBoss content filtering system
  • Easy, secure onboarding that required minimal IT involvement
  • Stable Wi-Fi connectivity to support online student assessments and testing as well as their student information system
Solutions
  • Replaced its legacy Aruba 802.11n infrastructure with 450 RUCKUS R700 802.11ac Smart Wi-Fi access points
  • Centralized WLAN management with redundant, high capacity ZoneDirector 5000 controllers
  • Simplified BYOD device provisioning and automated the enforcement of user policies
  • Increased Wi-Fi coverage, tripled client throughput and improved signal strength and wireless reliability
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