RE: [WIRELESS-LAN] Throughput Caps on Wireless

[Seward, Bill]

For faculty and staff, wireless connections are limited only by the technology 
in use.  We don’t cap the number of connections.  For students, we don’t cap 
the number of sessions, but we do cap throughput at 30 mbps.  We do limit 
Netflix sessions for everyone to 5 mbps, which Netflix says is sufficient for a 
full HD feed.  We specifically limit Netflix because they represent roughly 1/3 
of our daily traffic.

We are, over time, slowly lifting the student limit, looking for the breakeven 
point between allowed bandwidth and available bandwidth.

Bill Seward   |   Director of Information Technology

Office of Information Technology
P.O. Box 960   |   48380 US Hwy 52
Misenheimer, NC  28109
Office  704-463-3066   |   Fax  704-463-1363
pfeiffer.edu   |   
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  @Pfeiffer1885
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youtube.com/PfeifferUniversity

For assistance with an IT-related issue, call Tech Support at 704-463-3002 or 
email us at techsupp...@pfeiffer.edu
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From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv 
[mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU] On Behalf Of Britton Anderson
Sent: Tuesday, March 1, 2016 2:25 PM
To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU
Subject: [WIRELESS-LAN] Throughput Caps on Wireless

I wanted to start a thread based on a link that was shared on the netman list 
this morning.

This 
article
 from EdTech Magazine highlights several University networks and 
implementations specifically to enhance the user experience of wireless access. 
This article intrigued me, specifically the mention of Dallas Baptist U's 
posture of capping individual wireless devices to 10Mbps.

Our group has long discussed similar postures within our Cisco wireless 
infrastructure, but its always circled back to not fettering access to campus 
resources such as shared drives despite my arguments that power users of shared 
storage should, and probably are, using a wired connection. Thus we fall back 
to continuing to use our upstream Packet Shaper for internet only traffic, 
which does not cap throughput rates per user.

How many of you have taken this, or similar stances on your wireless networks? 
Alternatively, is there anything else that you're doing to optimize user 
experiences?

Thanks,
Britton

Britton Anderson |

 Senior Network Communications Specialist |

 University of Alaska |

 907.450.8250


** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE 
Constituent Group discussion list can be found at 
http://www.educause.edu/groups/.

**
Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group 
discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.

Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Throughput Caps on Wireless

[Jeffrey D. Sessler]

When I read that someone is implementing caps, I tend to think it’s somewhat 
driven by poor planning. If you’re following your trends, and requesting 
funding based on those trends, then you are unlikely to need caps. Well, unless 
those that deal with budget don’t listen, which I’ll chalk up to poor 
leadership and governance.

If you have a good wireless vendor, then the users/devices on a given AP will 
get a fair share of the available bandwidth.
If you have a good wireless design (capacity/bandwidth vs coverage), then the 
number of devices per AP will be low.
If you have a well designed wired infrastructure with capacity to carry the 
wireless traffic, then that’s not a problem.

You’re basically left with your bandwidth to the Internet, and if your 
governance works, then it should always be more than adequate to carry the 
traffic.

The consortium I work for has managed our Internet bandwidth so that we’re 
ahead of the curve. In the last twenty years we’ve been through all the T1, 
fractional T3, gigabit, and now redundant 10 gigabit Internet connections. 
While our 10 gigabit is more than enough at the moment, we’re already in the 
planning/forecasting stages for our move to 100 gigabit including recent 
investments in dark fiber.

By planning ahead (forecasting based on trends) we have an open education 
network with few constraints and few complaints. Looking at it another way, 
instead of investing money on staff/hardware to manage all of the 
constraint-type activities (packet shapers, billing, throttles), those 
resources go toward services that are focused on teaching and learning.

Jeff

From: 
"wireless-lan@listserv.educause.edu" 
> 
on behalf of Britton Anderson 
>
Reply-To: 
"wireless-lan@listserv.educause.edu" 
>
Date: Tuesday, March 1, 2016 at 11:25 AM
To: 
"wireless-lan@listserv.educause.edu" 
>
Subject: [WIRELESS-LAN] Throughput Caps on Wireless

I wanted to start a thread based on a link that was shared on the netman list 
this morning.

This 
article
 from EdTech Magazine highlights several University networks and 
implementations specifically to enhance the user experience of wireless access. 
This article intrigued me, specifically the mention of Dallas Baptist U's 
posture of capping individual wireless devices to 10Mbps.

Our group has long discussed similar postures within our Cisco wireless 
infrastructure, but its always circled back to not fettering access to campus 
resources such as shared drives despite my arguments that power users of shared 
storage should, and probably are, using a wired connection. Thus we fall back 
to continuing to use our upstream Packet Shaper for internet only traffic, 
which does not cap throughput rates per user.

How many of you have taken this, or similar stances on your wireless networks? 
Alternatively, is there anything else that you're doing to optimize user 
experiences?

Thanks,
Britton


Britton Anderson |Senior Network 
Communications Specialist |  University of 
Alaska |   907.450.8250

** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE 
Constituent Group discussion list can be found at 
http://www.educause.edu/groups/.

**
Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group 
discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.