Manipal Global Education Services Wi-Fi Solution

The Problem

Many of Manipal’s staff were using Laptops with Wi-Fi 6 capabilities and students were provided tabs with Wi-Fi access to enhance their learning experience, there was a huge need to offer an easy-to-manage Wi-Fi infrastructure with a centralized network management technology. In addition to catering to the needs of the staff and students, there was a need to provide a Wi-Fi 6 solution that covered the entire college campus.

The Wi-Fi APs had to cover all the dorm rooms and corridors of the campus along with the classrooms. The Access Points would need to allow for many concurrent users so that all the students and staff present on campus could utilize the Wi-Fi without having accessibility issues. The ease of managing a large number of access points centrally was another factor in determining which solutions were chosen.

The Needs

Grandstream’s Indian Distributor, Cohesive Technologies recommended Grandstream’s portfolio of Wi-Fi Access Points as it has a diverse portfolio of indoor and outdoor access points. This was extremely vital for Manipal Global as they required access points that can be customized and utilized for various needs in different areas such as hostel rooms, staff rooms, classrooms, labs, auditoriums, etc. Manipal Education also being an educational institution is heavily reliant on wired and wireless networking services which is the backbone of the network to provide Learning Management solutions, and Internet and Application Access for the needs of students and staff alike.

Manipal Education was also looking for a high-quality and cost-effective solution that can be easily managed centrally. Installing and managing GWN series devices is very easy as Grandstream offers a free-of-cost cloud Wi-Fi Management platform called GWN.Cloud. This application can be used through any web browser and includes a free mobile application for Android and iOS devices. It is also possible to build and manage any GWN Wi-Fi network from any location on any device.

After considering competitors such as Ubiquiti and Cisco, Manipal Global decided to go with Cohesive’s recommendation of Grandstream’s Access Points, which covered the requirements that Manipal was looking for. They were able to seamlessly migrate to a more cost-effective solution, Wi-Fi 6, good coverage range, large number of devices supported, and the fact that all the APs can be easily managed using Grandstream’s Wi-Fi Management Platform – GWN.Cloud.

The Solution

Deploying the GWN7664 and GWN7062 led Manipal Global to spend half the cost of the earlier Wi-Fi solution that was deployed that needed a separate Wi-Fi controller. Additionally, only one Wi-Fi support engineer proved to be enough to manage the entire campus after deploying Grandstream’s solution.

GWN7664

This Wi-Fi 6 Access Point was deployed by Cohesive in all classrooms and staff areas which provided excellent coverage and throughputs with Multi-Gigabit technology.

Coverage Range – The GWN7664 has a coverage range of 175 meters which has proven to be more than sufficient in covering the required areas of the campus.

Devices supported – The GWN7664 supports over 750 concurrent Wi-Fi client devices ensuring that everyone can have access to Wi-Fi without any disconnection. Devices which support many concurrent users are crucial for crowded places like educational institutions. This is where having a Wi-Fi 6 access point becomes all the more useful

Wi-Fi Speed – The GWN7664 offers 3.55Gbps aggregate wireless throughput and 3.55Gbps aggregate wired throughput ensuring fast Wi-Fi speeds in any area within the campus where these access points are deployed.

Security – Manipal Global being an educational institution that needs to protect a lot of sensitive information it was vital for them to ensure that the Wi-Fi network is properly secured so that nothing is leaked. By offering services like anti-hacking secure boot and critical data/ control lockdown via digital signatures, unique security certificate, and random default password per device.

QoS – Having QoS ensures the control of network traffic and ensures that the performance of critical applications

GWN7602

This AP was deployed in all hostel rooms of the facility, thereby improving the online learning needs of the students staying on-site. The hostels do not require Wi-Fi speeds as fast as the main campus which is why Manipal Global opted for an alternative option.

Coverage – The GWN7602 has a coverage range of 100 meters which is more than sufficient for an area the size of a hostel.

Devices Supported: The GWN7062 supports over 80 concurrent Wi-Fi client devices which was enough to ensure that everyone in the hostel has access to Wi-Fi.

Security: To protect sensitive information it was essential to ensure that the Wi-Fi network is properly secured so that nothing is leaked. GWN Series access points offer advanced security features like anti-hacking secure boot and critical data/ control lockdown via digital signatures, unique security certificate, and random default password per device that satisfied the needs of Manipal Global security requirements.

Qos: Quality of Service ensures the control of network traffic and the performance of critical applications.

The Result

“Thanks to Cohesive Technologies, MaGE was able to build powerful, reliable, and customizable Wi-Fi solutions for their wide range of business and educational learning needs. 

We were able to deploy these solutions quickly while easily managing and maintaining them with a platform ideal for each customer using Grandstream’s embedded controller and GWN Cloud management platform. The GWN series allows Manipal Global Education (MaGE) to lower our investment costs and maximize their deployment budgets as Grand stream offers a price point at less than half of the devices we were previously using.” – Anil Kumar Kulkarni (DGM, Enterprise Technology)