Douglas Unified School District: School district improves data connections and reduces recurring costs through integrated Redline Point-to-Point network

For years the Douglas Unified School District (DUSD) had been exceeding its available network bandwidth provided  by campus to campus T-1 connections.  The continual advances in technology placed increasing strain on the already stressed network.

NIC worked with the District Technology Director to develop a solution that met the district’s needs now and ample room for growth.  As is often the case with school districts, Douglas Unified faced budgeting challenges before they could move forward with NIC’s proposed solution.  NIC came up with several different designs and options for DUSD in order to meet budgets while still providing a robust solution with enough bandwidth to support future IP applications and higher bandwidth video streaming and training. 

The final design composed of  Redline Point-to-Point wireless network to replace the District’s T-1 connections.   Using eight AN80i 108Mbps Point to Point (PTP) links, the district’s network bandwidth increased from 1.54Mbps to 60-90Mbps to each school campus.  As this was a non-licensed system, NIC recommended and installed Redline's 5.4 solution which offers more channels and is a new frequency that was just ratified by the FCC.  In order to maximum uptime and reliability, a 5-Yr maintenance contract was part of the scope as well as spare radios for same-day replacement in case of a radio being damaged by storms or vandals.
 
One of the biggest challenges to the deployment was ensuring line of sight (LoS) connectivity without deploying towers which would have dramatically increased the cost of the project and potentially would have ceased the implementation from reality.  NIC’s wireless engineers worked with DUSD to find available paths by using existing building structures and strategically placing radios. Once the network was designed, NIC’s engineers were able to implement the system in just two weeks.
 
Douglas USD had made the move to Cisco IP communications for their telephony several years ago and they are now utilizing the wireless WAN infrastructure as their main pathways for IP communications including voice, data and video.  NIC engineers configured Quality of Service (QoS) data trafficking to ensure voice traffic priority and uptime.  The new wireless network handles all of the same data connections that were previously handled by the limited and costly T-1 network connections. The new connections are helping the District fulfill its mission:
“The mission of the Douglas Unified School District is to provide each student with the opportunity, means, and motivation to reach his or her potential for intellectual and personal growth, and to develop those skills and attitudes essential to lifelong learning in a changing society.”
 
The Douglas Unified School District is located in the City of Douglas, Arizona on the Arizona-Mexico border. The district includes 9 schools covering elementary, middle and high school campuses. 
 

With over 14 years of network integration, NIC has the experience and the knowledge you are looking for in your technology partner.  NIC’s Total Solution approach ensures that our customers get the best integration installation possible from a trusted technology advisor. Contact an NIC representative today to see how we can be your Total Solution.