Quick Facts
Founded: 1808 (Second oldest Catholic university in the U.S.) Locations: Main campus in Emmitsburg, MD; Satellite campus in Frederick, MD Enrollment: ~2,100 students, ~500 faculty/staff
Mount St. Mary's University
Mount St. Mary’s modernized its campus network with UniFi, deploying 300+ devices across 30+ buildings under one console. This replaced expensive legacy systems and enabled easy scaling, high-density Wi-Fi, and live sports broadcasts. min
30+Buildings
300+UniFi Devices (cameras, thousands of network devices)
Background
Founded in 1808, Mount St. Mary's University is a prestigious private liberal arts Catholic university nestled in the scenic Catoctin Mountains of Emmitsburg, Maryland. The university is recognized not only for its historical significance as the second oldest Catholic institution of higher education in the United States but also for its strong tradition in academics and athletics, recently joining the MAC athletic conference.
Mike Rogers, Director of Network Engineering and Operations, and Sean Smith, Network Administrator, are responsible for managing the complex and expansive IT infrastructure that supports thousands of devices across multiple campuses, including administrative buildings, residence halls, athletic facilities, dining areas, and remote locations.
Challenges Before UniFi
Previously reliant on Cisco networking equipment, Mount St. Mary's faced significant challenges:
Complex Management: Each Cisco device required individual command-line management, making troubleshooting cumbersome and slow.
High Cost and Procurement Delays: Vendor-dependent procurement processes were lengthy, delaying critical network upgrades.
Limited Scalability: The existing infrastructure struggled to accommodate the growing demands of increased Wi-Fi coverage, device density, and overall bandwidth.
Diverse Network Needs: Unique use cases ranging from high-density residential halls to broadcast-quality athletic facilities posed continuous management challenges.
Why UniFi?
Mount St. Mary's turned to UniFi, attracted by its centralized management, affordability, rapid deployment capabilities, and scalability:
Single Pane of Glass: UniFi Site Manager allowed rapid configuration, real-time visibility, and simplified troubleshooting across multiple sites.
Cost-Effective: Elimination of costly software licensing fees and simpler procurement processes significantly reduced operational costs.
Mobile Management: UniFi's intuitive mobile app enabled IT administrators to manage network equipment remotely, rapidly addressing issues.
The single pane of glass controller was a game-changer. Being able to see and control all your equipment from one screen simplified our lives tremendously.
Mike Rogers
Network Architecture and Deployment
Mount St. Mary’s implemented a star hub-and-spoke topology, anchored by EdgeRouter Infinity gateways at their network core: Gateways: EdgeRouter Infinity provides robust 10-gigabit routing.
Switches: UniFi Switch Pro 48 and advanced EtherLighting switches, providing improved redundancy, stacking capabilities, and easy management.
Access Points: Deployed U6 Enterprise Wi-Fi 6 APs to ensure comprehensive coverage in academic buildings, dormitories, and high-density athletic venues.
Wireless Backhaul: Leveraged AirFiber and AirMax for cost-effective, reliable connectivity to remote athletic fields and new campus sites, including the new School of Health Professions located two miles away.
Real-Life Success: Athletics Broadcasting
A standout project highlighting UniFi's capabilities was the deployment of a comprehensive IP-based broadcasting solution for Mount St. Mary's athletic facilities. The university constructed a professional broadcast studio and equipped multiple athletic venues—some situated in remote fields—with UniFi switches, AirFiber, and AirMax to support live streaming and production.
UniFi enabled seamless IP video production for basketball games, track events, and other sports, with TV networks featuring content from these broadcasts, showcasing UniFi’s capacity to reliably manage high-bandwidth, latency-sensitive applications.
When we moved to a new athletic conference, we had to rapidly build a studio and connect fields miles away without existing fiber infrastructure. UniFi made that possible quickly, reliably, and cost-effectively.
Mike Rogers
Administrator Experiences
UniFi has significantly improved IT administrators' quality of life at Mount St. Mary’s:
Sean Smith shared a notable incident involving a basketball broadcast disruption just moments before a crucial game. Using UniFi’s mobile app, he remotely identified and resolved the network configuration error within minutes, preventing extensive downtime.
The simplicity and speed of resolving network issues remotely on my phone saved countless hours of disruptions. It’s been invaluable for our small team.
Sean Smith
Quantitative Impact and Scalability
Mount St. Mary's deployment of UniFi has delivered concrete metrics demonstrating substantial impact:
- 30+ campus buildings seamlessly managed through a single interface.
- Thousands of devices (switches, APs, cameras) managed with ease.
- Rapid site deployments, such as the School of Health Professions, which was quickly connected using AirFiber without expensive fiber installations.
- Substantial cost savings from eliminating Cisco licensing fees and simplifying procurement.
- Reduced downtime with mobile-based troubleshooting, enabling rapid issue resolution.
Future Vision
Mount St. Mary’s University is committed to further modernizing their infrastructure by adopting the latest UniFi technologies, including EtherLighting switches with stacking and MC-LAG support, enhancing both network resilience and ease of management. The university is exploring expanded use cases for UniFi, demonstrating confidence in the platform’s future growth potential.
Conclusion
By embracing UniFi’s scalable and intuitive solutions, Mount St. Mary’s University successfully modernized its historic campuses, providing a reliable, cost-effective, and manageable networking environment. This forward-thinking approach enables the university to focus on delivering exceptional education and enriching campus experiences while ensuring future-ready infrastructure.
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