District boosts network security, mobility with WLAN

Aerohive Networks today announced that Union School District, located in San Jose, CA, has upgraded their consumer-grade wireless solution to an all Aerohive 802.11n wireless network. The district is nearing completion of its Aerohive WLAN deployment spanning nine locations. In total, 4,800 students and 400 staff will be accessing the internet from classrooms, media centers, libraries, dedicated labs and administrative offices.

“As soon as we learned of Aerohive and its controller-less architecture, we were hooked,” said Alan Fillmore, Director of Technology, for Union School District. “For the price and distributed, controller-less model, we felt it was a better fit for our needs.”

Union district sought the upgrade in order to meet student and teacher demands for using mobile devices.Security was also a big concern, as the old system's non enterprise-class APs limited the ability to secure the network. The deployment of HiveManager Network Management System (NMS) has resulted in easier troubleshooting and strong security. Union’s staff is now able to see who is connecting to the WLAN at any given moment, and can see if there are any rogue APs that need to be shut down.

“The results of Union School District’s Aerohive deployment have been immediate,” said Fillmore. “As far as the teachers, instruction is easier and faster. Also, the labs are able to handle 30-plus computers simultaneously in comparison to bygone days when the system maxed out at 10 to 12 clients.”