In response to our recent post about how many APs per student universities hang, Joao Nuno Castro kindly sent along a chart listing 70 universities in Portugal and how many APs they use: The average is 100 users per AP, but the numbers range from as low as nine to as high as 624, though most on the high end are closer to 150. That wide range may be tied to coverage and overall student population, not necessarily due to some ratio an IT manager has in mind.
Castro works for the Innovation and Knowledge Society Unit in the Portuguese Government and offered up some information about Portugal's interest in Wi-Fi. Portugal has an Electronic University (e-U) project that aims to build networks on university campuses and link them together. Portugal seems really aggressive in encouraging Wi-Fi network development. Read more about the e-U initiative here.
Portugal is also part of the Trans European Research and Education Networking Association which plans to enable roaming for students and researchers between member universities. Portugal is helping to pioneer the infrastructure that will enable roaming in 2005, Castro said.