en.Wedoany.com Reported - Recently, Brazil's Itaipu Parquetec completed the first phase of its wireless communication network upgrade, replacing 240 wireless access points in its campus in Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná, Brazil, upgrading the infrastructure from primarily Wi-Fi 5 to Wi-Fi 7. The project uses Cisco equipment from the United States, with Brazil's N&DC responsible for system integration, primarily addressing issues such as frequent network interruptions, aging equipment, and insufficient capacity in high-density scenarios.
Before the upgrade, approximately 95% of the campus's wireless network equipment used the Wi-Fi 5 standard, with a small number of areas using Wi-Fi 6. As the number of settled universities, enterprises, research institutions, and innovation teams increased, the original controllers gradually aged, experiencing multiple restarts and connection interruptions since May 2025, with an average of about three network failures per week. During large-scale technology events on campus, the number of terminals increased sharply in a short period, and the existing network's capacity, latency, and operational stability could no longer meet usage demands.
This project redeployed wireless controllers and access equipment and introduced the 6GHz frequency band. Wi-Fi 7 supports multi-link operation, enabling simultaneous data transmission across multiple frequency bands, and supports a maximum channel bandwidth of 320MHz, increasing wireless capacity for densely populated areas, research and experimental environments, and real-time interactive services. After the new architecture was put into operation, the recurring connection interruptions on campus were resolved, and the network's capacity to handle simultaneous access by a large number of devices was also improved.
The project equipment arrived at the site one week before the event. Brazil's N&DC completed the controller configuration and centralized replacement of 240 wireless access points within five days. During the construction, the technical team also performed radio frequency adjustments for different buildings and personnel activity areas based on the propagation characteristics of the 6GHz band, reducing interference between adjacent access points, and completed the switchover between old and new equipment while the network remained operational.
Brazil's Itaipu Parquetec is located near the Itaipu Hydroelectric Dam. The campus brings together universities, enterprises, startups, research centers, and public institutions, with business areas covering information technology, robotics, critical infrastructure security, smart cities, and sustainable transportation. The wireless network not only handles office and visitor connections but also supports data transmission for research equipment, digital displays, conference events, and campus innovation projects. This upgrade provides a new campus network foundation for future additions of real-time applications and high-density terminal deployments.
After the first phase is completed, the campus will continue to deploy Cisco's Identity Services Engine from the United States, automatically creating dynamic virtual local area networks through identity recognition and policy management to enhance access isolation between different users, devices, and services. Future plans also include connecting to the Catalyst Center for centralized management, automated configuration, and predictive monitoring of the wireless network, gradually shifting network operations and maintenance from manual handling after failures to continuous monitoring and proactive adjustments.
