Seebaran realized how serious the problem was when he joined the centre exactly a year ago. In looking for a proper supplier, he figured any equipment maker that could meet the needs of a university would satisfy the needs of the centre.

For him that narrowed down the list to Aruba Networks Inc., Rukus Wireless Inc. and Xirrus Inc. In November each was invited to demonstrate its technology. Aruba and Rukus were eliminated, Seebaran said, because their solution would have needed extra network wiring. Xirrus' arrays, each with up to 16 directional access points, needed the least amount of infrastructure change.

In fact, Seebaran said, for the test only two arrays were needed to blanket one of the centre's biggest halls.

"The thickness of the walls threw us off a bit," admitted John Merrill, Xirrus' director of corporate marketing and communications. But he said the company's distributed architecture, which is similar to a cellular network, makes the difference. The multiple radios in each access point also means fewer APs are needed to cover a given space, a money-saver.

Canada had been an "off and on" market for the equipment maker until about a year ago when a Canadian was hired as the company's global vice-president of sales. It now has three dedicated sales reps here.