Charleston Southern University Selects Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays For First-Ever All Wireless Video And Audio Streaming Of NCAA Events

Xirrus, Inc., the only provider of high-performance, long-range Wi-Fi products, announced today that Charleston Southern University (CSU) will deploy the first ever all wireless network to deliver live video and audio streaming of its NCAA soccer and softball events starting this month. A technology trailblazer among educational institutions, Charleston Southern University was the first all wireless campus in South Carolina and the Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays will supplement the university’s existing wireless network to span an outdoor area stretching from the Learning Center to its soccer and softball fields.

Charleston Southern selected Xirrus because it was the only solution that could provide sufficient Wi-Fi bandwidth to deliver live audio and video streaming of the NCAA events; meeting the university’s requirement for the Big South Conference to have all sports enabled for live streaming. Xirrus’ deployment also provided significant cost savings as the only viable alternative involved boring underground fiber backhauls ultimately saving the university over $15,000 dollars.
 
“Most NCAA conferences require their conference teams to provide live audio and video feeds of all sports venues,” said Rusty Bruns, chief information officer at Charleston Southern University. “Current generation Wi-Fi Access Points lack the throughput, capacity and range to support our application. With Xirrus, we now have a high capacity wireless network allowing us to stream live video and audio coverage of two different sporting events while also satisfying various Title IX requirements.”

“The live video feed for home games provides fans the opportunity to watch their favorite teams play and is very desirable for those distance or out-of-state families whose student athletes participate in these events,” said John DiGiovanni, director of marketing at Xirrus. “This deployment sets precedence for other schools that face the same requirements to connect locations within their campuses as they now have an option other than expensive wired solutions.”   

By using the multiple radios and the internal, high gain directional antennas of the Wi-Fi Arrays, Charleston Southern University was able to connect various points on the campus with high bandwidth wireless backhauls capable of supporting multiple video and audio streams eliminating the need to run thousands of feet of cable.

“Trenching to run fiber would ruin the fields and tear up a lengthy stretch of our campus and direct boring to lay fiber is very expensive,” said Bruns. “By using a Wi-Fi solution, no one will ever cut the fiber and the fields will not be disturbed. The fast, easily upgradeable Xirrus deployment sets a standard that until now was not possible using
Wi-Fi technology.”

About Charleston Southern University
Founded in 1964, Charleston Southern University is a four-year liberal arts school situated on 300 acres near historic Charleston. One of South Carolina's largest accredited independent universities, it enrolls over 3,000 students. The institution is affiliated with the South Carolina Southern Baptist Convention and is dedicated to promoting academic excellence in a Christian environment for all faiths. For more information on Charleston Southern University, visit the school's web site at www.csuniv.edu.

Xirrus Press Contact
Rachel Stein or Leigh Roberts
E-mail: rstein@bockpr.com
Phone: + 1 714 540 1030 ext 18 or 15

About Xirrus
Xirrus is the award-winning leader in high performance, long range Wi-Fi. Xirrus manufactures the patented Wi-Fi Array platform that integrates up to 16 radios with an onboard Gigabit Switch, Wi-Fi Controller, Firewall, and dedicated Wi-Fi Threat Sensor into a single device. The Xirrus solution delivers 2X the range, 4X the coverage, 14X the throughput, and requires 75% less devices, cabling, switch ports, and installation time compared to any competitive solution. Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays are ideal for any organization deploying Wi-Fi, especially those that require support for large coverage areas, dense user populations, and high bandwidth applications.

Xirrus is a privately-held company headquartered in Westlake Village, California. For more information, please visit www.xirrus.com