Case Study: CERN achieves uninterrupted campus-wide Wi‑Fi and a programmable, scalable network with HPE Aruba Networking

Aruba delivers uninterrupted campus-wide coverage and a programmable network at CERN

CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research near Geneva with some 13,000 onsite users and more than 100,000 annual visitors, faced widespread Wi‑Fi blackspots across 200 buildings and an aging, independent access‑point architecture that lacked seamless roaming, visitor access and the capacity to handle a rapidly growing number of mobile devices (expected ≥20,000 concurrent connections after enabling eduroam).

CERN migrated to a unified Aruba Mobile First architecture—802.11ac Wave 2 APs (current rollout to ~1,200, plan ~4,000), Aruba AirWave, mobility controllers and AOS 8.x with ClientMatch and open APIs—delivering automated deployment, centralized management and analytics. The result is campus‑wide, uninterrupted roaming, centrally controlled visitor access, support for 20,000+ concurrent devices, reduced cabling/infrastructure costs and a scalable platform for a mobile‑first workplace.

CERN

Tony Cass

Communication Systems Group Leader