New Network Services in Sprague

Short Version:

As part of our effort to improve network services at HMC, we will be piloting a new network service provider throughout the Sprague Center starting in the third week of August. The new provider is named Nile Secure and the pilot program will run for one year. The pilot should provide a more consistent and stable Wi-Fi experience within Sprague and will allow for faster troubleshooting in the event of an issue.

On Saturday August 16th Nile will be installing new equipment. Network connectivity will be intermittent in Sprague throughout the day. Please do not plan to work in Sprague on that day.

You will use your HMC credentials to connect to the new Wi-Fi networks in Sprague: 

• Nile-Claremont-WPA
• Nile-Claremont-ETC
• Nile-Claremont-Guest

Because the pilot network is separate from the rest of campus, your device will switch between networks when you enter or leave Sprague. This will be akin to the experience you have when you leave campus and visit a nearby coffee shop, for example, where there’s also a different network. 

Longer version:

As part of our effort to improve network services at HMC, starting the third week of August, we will be piloting Nile Secure, a new network service provider, in Sprague. The goal of the pilot is to see whether the new service will provide a more predictable and satisfying end user experience while allowing us access to better trouble shooting on the occasions when there are problems. 

What does this mean for you? 

When in Sprague, you’ll be connecting to new, but familiar looking Wi-Fi networks:

• Nile-Claremont-WPA
• Nile-Claremont-ETC
• Nile-Claremont-Guest

You will connect to the Nile Secure networks using the same credentials you’d use to connect to the traditional Cisco networks (Claremont-WPA, Claremont-ETC) you’re used to seeing on campus. Though they use the same credentials, Nile Wi-Fi and Cisco Wi-Fi are different platforms, so your devices will need some time (less than 30 seconds) to move from one to the other as you move in and out of Sprague, but they will reconnect automatically.

Why are we doing this?

Wi-Fi at HMC needs to improve. We are exploring all available options, including a new network service provider. Nile Secure is a “network as a service” provider that has several higher education customers; one of their first was the Stanford Computer Science department, which speaks very highly of their experience. 

During this pilot, we will be evaluating the Wi-Fi performance, reliability, and availability of the Nile infrastructure compared to the rest of the campus. Among the most attractive features of Nile are the dashboards, key performance indicators and assurance data available in their platform which should allow us to proactively resolve any issues, as well as quickly react to and resolve Wi-Fi and network related problems.

How can you help?

It’s very important we collect any and all feedback and information you can provide regarding your Wi-Fi experience in Sprague during the pilot. Particularly, in contrast with your Wi-Fi experience in other buildings and locations on campus. 

Why Sprague?

A change in a service as complicated as wifi needs thorough and realistic testing, even if other customers are reporting excellent experiences. 

We wanted to pick a location that had a meaningful number of active users, without risking disrupting teaching and learning areas. Piloting Nile in the LAC would be low-risk, but likely wouldn’t give us enough information to make an informed decision on the viability of the Nile platform. And while we are confident in Nile’s potential, piloting in a building like Shanahan would be  on the other end of the spectrum – very high risk if things didn’t go well. 

What’s our rollback plan?

We are keeping the current Cisco equipment in “hot” storage close by. The equipment will be online, maintained and updated, but inactive. That way, if we need to remove the Nile equipment and go back to the Cisco infrastructure quickly (within a day) we will be able to do so.

If you have questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Help Desk, or write directly to the CIS Management team (mt-l@g.hmc.edu).