Page 23 - Campus Technology, May/June 2018

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How the Internet of Things Is Changing Campus Wi-Fi
Seamlessly connecting a variety of devices to a single network infrastructure is a challenge. Here are three things to consider.
THE NUMBER OF SMART DEVICES connecting to the Internet is exploding. This trend has serious implications for how campus technology leaders approach the way they design and manage their Wi-Fi networks.
According to industry researcher Gartner, the number of Internet- connected devices has quadrupled worldwide since 2012. By 2020, there will be an estimated 30 billion devices online, says Gartner— nearly three times the number of humans on earth. The majority of those devices will not be laptops, tablets, or smartphones; but sensors, controllers, and other objects that are part of the Internet of Things (IoT).
Colleges and universities are not isolated from the growth of the IoT. Many institutions have security cameras, thermostats, lighting systems, door locks, and other kinds of devices that are connected and controlled online. And students arriving on campus bring with them a growing number of personal devices, such as printers, smart watches, gaming consoles, and smart TVs.
In October 2016, a massive Distributed Denial of Service attack crippled Internet sites including Netflix, Twitter, and PayPal. The attack spread through millions of unsecured, Internet-connected devices such as surveillance cameras. And it happened because the
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