UNIVERSITAS NEGERI SURABAYA (UNESA) START A NEW ERA OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

Teaching and learning at UNESA have evolved—students and lecturers are no longer limited to one-way, in-class sessions. With the rise of digital learning, students now bring their own devices, connect to the campus network, and attend classes from anywhere within the campus area. To support this new approach, UNESA needs to upgrade its network infrastructure. Established in 1950, UNESA has grown into one of the largest public universities in Indonesia, with two main campuses: Ketintang, which houses the Faculties of Economics and Business, Engineering, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, and Social and Law Sciences; and Lidah Wetan, which includes the Faculties of Education, Languages and Arts, and Sports Sciences.

Background & Key Challenges

In the digital era, universities are racing to become the most advanced campuses in Indonesia and even globally, starting with transforming old systems into digital or cloud-based ones—covering all aspects such as facilities, IT networks, and campus infrastructure. Today’s students no longer choose universities solely based on reputation, but also on how innovative and tech-ready the campus is, making competition among universities increasingly intense and pushing the need to evolve into smart universities. To achieve this, several key sectors must be addressed, starting with smart teaching methods that include online, immersive, and ubiquitous learning experiences. Since the post-COVID era, online learning has increased fivefold, urging universities to offer flexible hybrid learning models. On the service side, students also expect a unified platform that supports all their academic needs efficiently. In addition, universities must enable effective research collaboration and implement comprehensive smart campus management to meet modern education demands.

However, with UNESA’s current network conditions, it is difficult to provide excellent coverage across the entire campus complex. Slow performance at the access, distribution, and core network levels has led to a poor user experience for students, lecturers, deans, and others. Teaching and learning activities that rely on video streaming are often disrupted. Many areas on campus still lack Wi-Fi coverage, and some are still using outdated technologies like Wi-Fi 4. This affects students' enthusiasm for learning.

One key concern is the large park within the campus complex, a peaceful and popular spot for students to relax or study—but it lacks Wi-Fi coverage, leaving students torn between enjoying the space and staying connected. This situation creates the impression that the campus is not providing proper digital support, which can damage UNESA’s reputation. Students can easily share negative reviews on social media, especially about the poor network experience.

From the IT team’s perspective, maintaining and troubleshooting the current network is a challenge. They struggle with limited visibility, making it difficult to trace and resolve issues quickly. Recognizing these problems, UNESA now plans to upgrade its facilities, IT networks, and infrastructure—starting with the network. The goal is to make it easier for all users to stay connected anywhere on campus.

Knowing this cannot be achieved with a traditional network that offers an unstable experience, many Wi-Fi dead zones, and a complicated maintenance process, UNESA is seeking a modern network solution that can provide seamless, high-performance connectivity. With this improvement, students and lecturers alike will benefit from a reliable and efficient digital experience, in line with UNESA’s vision for a smarter, more connected campus.

Huawei Solution

Huawei, as a leading ICT solution provider, came to support UNESA by building a converged campus network solution. Starting with several faculties, Huawei replaced UNESA’s existing routers with high-performance switches.

Core switches were installed at both Lidah Wetan and Ketintang campuses, serving as the backbone that connects to multiple main distribution switches. These, in turn, connect to building distribution switches, as each faculty consists of multiple buildings. From there, the network extends to access switches on each floor, which are then connected to Huawei’s advanced access points strategically placed throughout the buildings.

To ensure fast, stable, and reliable connectivity, Huawei proposed next-generation enterprise-grade switches across the core, distribution, and access layers. On the wireless side, Huawei introduced Wi-Fi 6 access points that offer ultra-broadband, low-latency, and high-concurrency performance—delivering a seamless roaming experience throughout the campus and enabling full wireless coverage for UNESA.

For operations and maintenance, Huawei deployed the iMaster NCE-Campus platform for automated network planning, deployment, and optimization—allowing fast service provisioning within minutes. In addition, iMaster NCE-Campus Insight, powered by big data analytics, was introduced to provide end-to-end network visibility and intelligent fault detection, helping the IT team identify and resolve network issues quickly and efficiently.

Customer Benefit

• Fully wireless coverage: fully wireless network coverage, up to 5.95 Gbps wireless access, zero packet loss in smart roaming, and zero video freezing
• Simplified configuration: fast service deployment, simplified network management, 63% lower service provisioning costs
• Intelligent O&M: network quality visibility, user experience perception, visibility in client journey, proactive VIP user care, 90% fewer complaints

Future Prospect

The journey toward becoming a smart campus has begun. The challenge of transforming into a sophisticated university can be met with the support of adequate infrastructure. Students who are satisfied with UNESA’s network experience are more likely to share positive reviews and testimonials, attracting future students to continue their education at the university. Moving forward, UNESA may also consider upgrading its data center, as achieving a smart university requires not only a smart network but also a smart platform. With its current network powered by Huawei, UNESA is well-prepared to face the future in the digital era.