SFO Airport: Millions of Passengers, Zero Downtime
HPE Aruba
Situation
San Francisco International Airport needed a wireless infrastructure overhaul to support the explosive growth of mobile device usage. The existing network buckled under peak passenger loads, especially during holiday travel periods. Any downtime directly impacted airline operations, security systems, and passenger experience.
Task
Design and deploy a high-density wireless network capable of supporting millions of annual passengers while maintaining absolute reliability for airport operations systems including security cameras, airline check-in, and emergency communications.
Action
I led the technical design implementing high-density AP placement strategies, channel planning optimized for the unique RF environment of airport terminals (lots of glass, metal, and open spaces), and QoS policies that prioritized operational traffic over guest browsing. Implemented rigorous testing including load simulation during off-peak hours.
Result
Delivered a network that handled peak loads of 10,000+ simultaneous users per terminal with zero unplanned downtime. The design became a reference architecture for other major airport deployments. SFO became a showcase customer for Aruba.