Case Study: University College London achieves rapid, low-disruption student Wi‑Fi rollout with HPE Aruba Networking

London College Discovers That Aruba Networks Wi-Fi Is as Easy to Deploy as Fitting a Plug

University College London (UCL) needed to provide reliable BYOD Wi‑Fi across some 4,000 student rooms in historic, scattered halls without lengthy building work or disruption. With ageing switches and sockets only in rooms (not hallways), the IT team faced a multi‑year project to retrofit traditional APs and cabling to meet student expectations and improve poor survey ratings.

UCL deployed Aruba AP93H faceplate access points and Aruba switches with PoE, swapping existing Ethernet sockets for compact APs that include dual‑band radios and a four‑port switch. The approach cut installation time dramatically—400 rooms in just over a week in two priority halls—and delivered blanket, fault‑tolerant coverage, per‑room bandwidth controls, multiple SSIDs (Eduroam for students, The Cloud for guests), fewer rogue APs and improved student IT satisfaction.

University College London

Mike Turpin

Head of Network Services