AirBears

As of March 16, 2012, there are 1612 total access points installed and operational at UC Berkeley.   These access points conform to the 581 IEEE-802.11n draft 2.0 standard, with a maximum transmission rate of 300Mb.

We are continuing the deployment of AirBears, with the primary focus to provide coverage in all areas inside campus buildings.  We are continuing this deployment by installing devices that will utilize IEEE-802.11a/g/n.  This will make it possible for users to continue to use their existing devices or to upgrade to the latest technology.  We anticipate we will reach our goal of 100% coverage inside all campus buildings in 3-4 years.

Those users of smart phones, iPads, and other apple devices will be able to automatically use their AT&T service.  Take a look at our joint project with AT&T here.

*Note:  The maximum transmission rate is the representation of the speed data can flow in a single direction over the wireless devices.  IEEE-802.11 devices utilize a shared medium, resulting in a half-duplex operation.  The actual data rates for end-to-end communication will vary based on the number of users, the quality of the radio signal, and the overall amount of data being passed over the wireless medium.  Typical end-to-end data rates are near 10Mb for the 54Mb rates and 65Mb for the 300Mb rates.

To read about the history of AirBears, click here.