Is there anything more important to today’s college campus than secure Wi-FI access? West Liberty University knows that the answer to this question is simple.
“There is probably nothing more important than safe, reliable computer access. We are aware of that and are now embarking on a complete update to our wireless coverage,” said Chief Technology Officer James Clark, who leads the on campus Information Technology Services.
“We are creating a fast data highway on campus and we’re pleased to be working with Dagostino Electronic Services of Pittsburgh, one of the best in the region, to make this upgrade,” Clark continued. “The work that will take place over summer will increase connectivity from current 1GB to 10GB speed— for students, staff and visitors.”
Communications technology expert Bob Oglinsky of Wheeling has been hired as the WLU project manager. Oglinsky formerly worked at WLU for seven years, retiring in spring 2016.
The campus-wide technology update will cost in the neighborhood of $800,000 and the funding of the project, which was approved by the Board of Governors at its Oct. 5, 2016 meeting, is coming from residual 2012 bond funds. The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission also approved the project.
The equipment to be installed across campus is from Alcatel-Lucent (enterprise.alcatel-lucent.com) and will include additional state-of-the art data access points in all public buildings, including the College Union, the Academic, Sports and Recreation Complex (ASRC) and the West Family Stadium. Fortinet (fortinet.com) network security will be used to provide end-to-end, wired and wireless security.
“Increasing the wireless capability of campus will create a more robust network for all,” said Oglinsky. “West Liberty University will benefit tremendously from the ease and speed of this new technology.”
For example, students will now find it much easier to access online academic work from all locations on campus. Plus, there will be ease in connecting at sporting venues, commencement and alumni functions like Homecoming.
“Any technological infrastructure update is appreciated by the student body. We need this and this is a good thing … students have been asking for this for a long time and we are grateful that our requests and needs are now being honored,” said Reid Boden, Student Government Association president.
Dagostino Electronic Services (DES) is responsible for many colleges and universities Internet network infrastructure in the region including, Davis & Elkins College, Duquesne University, Point Park University, Clarion University, Morgan State University, NASA – West Virginia University and Slippery Rock University.
Another one of DES’ clients is none-other than the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“At DES, we practice the Internet security first approach, so we use only highly secure systems that offer solutions to our clients,” said Jeffrey Trabbold, DES project manager for the WLU work.
The DES team was on campus this past Wednesday to access the project and the equipment needs. The next step is ordering in parts, then the installation begins and includes: upgrading the fiber optic cable plant, replacing all of our data switching, replacing firewalls, wireless access points.
A Pittsburgh based, privately held company, DES designs, sells, installs and maintains communication systems for voice, data, security, surveillance, multimedia, and structured cabling. Since 1973, it has provided solutions for thousands of local area networks, wide area networks, and voice systems in all types of industry environments. Its website is located at descomm.com.
