School District Increases Wireless Capabilities

WALTHAM , Mass. — Orthogon Systems, a provider of fixed wireless products, announced that Aurora Public Schools , the sixth largest school district in Colorado , has deployed its OS-Gemini and OS-Spectra Ethernet point-to-point bridges to increase bandwidth and establish a network that will be able to handle future applications such as VoIP, video and distance learning.

With the support of Orthogon’s first Platinum Partner, Anyware Networks, the wireless product was deployed connecting 26 elementary schools and one K-8 school. APS increased its network capacity and created redundancy in the network by implementing three OS-Spectra 300 links.

Representatives of APS said that the district needed to upgrade its network in order to prepare for new, advanced applications. At the same time, APS was looking to reduce the monthly cost incurred from expensive, leased T1 lines.

Non-line-of-sight was a significant problem at several of the elementary schools and the new technology was instrumental in getting connectivity to these schools. Mark Lindstone, chief information officer at APS, says that with their previous system, connections between elementary schools were slow and expensive to maintain, and carrier-provided options to increase the bandwidth were too expensive over the long-term.