Case Study: Trafford College achieves cost-effective, high-performance pervasive Wi‑Fi for students and staff with Riverbed

Trafford College Brings Learning to a New Level with Xirrus Wireless Arrays

Brigham Young University–Idaho, a 15,000‑student campus across 40 buildings, and Trafford College, a multi‑site UK institution serving over 10,000 students, both faced rising demand for reliable, pervasive Wi‑Fi. BYU‑Idaho’s patchwork hotspots left users confused and couldn’t support residence halls or large classrooms, while Trafford needed high‑bandwidth coverage for mobile learning, e‑exams and a modern new facility with minimal cabling.

Both institutions deployed Xirrus array‑based Wi‑Fi: BYU‑Idaho installed nearly 700 arrays (with plans to reach ~800) for full indoor coverage and support for 6,500 simultaneous devices, and Trafford used multi‑radio arrays to cover its new building using 65% fewer devices and cable runs. The result was reliable, high‑capacity wireless that cut infrastructure costs, enabled streaming, online testing and mobile teaching tools, and generated positive feedback from faculty and students.

Trafford College

Steve Pratten

ICT Team Leader