
When classes start this fall, students won’t just have dedicated wireless connectivity in classrooms and indoor spaces where they have traditionally needed it for coursework in the past. Broad wireless connectivity launched Monday, Aug. 1 in the outdoor Greenway that links Peachtree Center Avenue to Collins and Courtland Streets.
While the Greenway is not the first outdoor space at the university with wireless coverage, it is the largest to be outfitted with wifi aimed at supporting events like outdoor fairs, outside classes, or even just days with great weather when a sizable portion of the university community may want to take advantage of picturesque city views. The high density, multi-gigabit, temperature-protected and weatherproofed wifi installed in the Greenway will allow students, faculty and staff who take advantage of the space to extend study and social time with device and Internet access.
“During the pandemic, like many other universities, we began needing to have more flexibility in where academics and events could be held. That combined with the continual exponential growth of student wireless needs means that we’re looking more and more at making sure there’s connectivity to cover all the places that students gather and need to communicate digitally,” says Andre Beckford, Assistant Director of Network Engineering for Instructional Innovation and Technology.
Georgia State and other higher education institutions are finding that students use as many as seven Internet-connected devices per student to consume digital content, from laptops, smartphones and tablets to gaming consoles and virtual reality headsets. With this growth in device use, the university continues to expand the wireless network to accommodate a widening number of locations and scenarios.