Total network rebuild complete at St. Andrews

LAURINBURG — St. Andrews University is currently 100% complete with a campus-wide network infrastructure rebuild with new Cisco Meraki switches. The campus has also begun a wireless network rebuild with Cisco Meraki wireless access points.

The wireless network rebuild was completed in four of the seven residence halls this week. The network switches that were replaced were 19 years old and the wireless equipment nearly 10 years old. The new Cisco Meraki system boasts cloud-based management with increased network security, connectivity, and internet stability.

Prior to the revamp of the wireless infrastructure, the IT department deployed a single Cisco Meraki device in the IT office as a test and saw outstanding results. The average download speed of the original Ubiquiti devices was about 3-8 mbps. The test of the new Meraki device demonstrated an average download speed of a whopping 190-220 mbps, almost 30 times faster than before the upgrade!

Christopher Bernhardt, director of Information Technology, reported, “Coupling the new campus network infrastructure with a new wireless system will bring forward a whole new world of technologies and abilities that we have not seen before [at St. Andrews].”

Although online classes are an option for students, classes at St. Andrews are presently in-seat. Students, faculty, and staff have their temperatures checked daily, wear masks, and follow social distancing guidelines. While classes at St. Andrews have been fully in-seat for the 2020-2021 academic year, fast and reliable internet access is still needed to complete and turn-in many assignments for those classes. The network infrastructure and wireless rebuilds have also improved residence hall life. Students are noting an impressive difference in connectivity to the network.

Donovan Barnshaw, a freshman living in Concord Hall, remarked, “The upgraded Wi-Fi has been a game-changer. It has made a significant difference with response time when submitting assignments as well as [streaming] Netflix/Hulu/etc. No more buffering to watch one episode.”