Case Study: University of the Free State achieves campus-wide gigabit Wi‑Fi and seamless mobility for 30,000+ users with HPE Aruba Networking

University of the Free State Goes Gigabit Wi-Fi

The University of the Free State (UFS), a South African university with about 33,000 students and 4,500 staff, faced an aging, fragmented Wi‑Fi environment that couldn’t support BYOD, seamless roaming or campus‑wide coverage. The IT team also needed a scalable cabling and edge‑network plan to handle high‑density areas and reliable authentication at scale.

UFS selected Aruba Networks with local partner Khipu Networks after a proof‑of‑concept rollout; the deployment now includes over 1,500 Aruba access points, multiple Mobility Controllers, ClearPass for policy and authentication, and AirWave for centralized management. The upgrade delivered robust campus‑wide Wi‑Fi, simplified administration, support for more than 30,000 daily user requests, and a tangible shift to mobile working for staff and students, with further rollouts planned.

University of the Free State

Chris Linstrom

UFS deputy Director of ICT Services