Case Studies

Plymouth Joint School District

Overview:

Plymouth Joint School District in Wisconsin. Plymouth.k12.wi.us is a small system of public schools serving Plymouth and surrounding communities in eastern Wisconsin. With three elementary campuses, one middle school, and one high school, Plymouth K-12 enrolls just under 3,000 students, with high standards for educational Excellency, extracurricular activities, and community engagement.

Challenge:

Online resources are a key component of all education subjects. To provide meaningful learning activities, the connectivity and access to the internet must be consistently reliable and stable when a classroom of students conduct simultaneous searches. The students, teachers , faculty, and guests had trouble accessing and staying connected to the network, which wouldn't support more than 30 simultaneous users per Access Point. Connections needed for learning activities, standardized student assessment , and administrative applications regularly slowed and failed, resulting in frustration .

Requirements:

Plymouth School District needed an affordable solution that could increase capacity , expanding rather than replacing their existing equipment, with no interruption for their students. Not only would the new equipment enable connection for regular use by nearly 3,000 users, the system's capacity needed to handle more than double that number for public events held at any of the district's campuses. Installment of the upgrade also had to be simple; self- deployment was the most practical option for the small public-school system's limited budget.

Solution:

The solution was found with Cambium Networks cnPilot™ e400 APs, mounting 150 of them throughout the five school buildings. This solution, integrated with cnMaestro ™ network management system, quadrupled Plymouth's client capacity and ended user complaints.

Results:

Plymouth K-12 is pleased with their upgraded network with consistent high capacity and improved speed for both regular use and high-traffic event access. Cambium products provide quality and reliability at a price point that worked for the district's resources, ensuring their students are supported in the rapidly changing world of modern learning. Additionally, they plan to extend their Cambium wireless network to upgrade nearby remote schools.

Lake County Broadband Solutions

Overview:

Starting a new ISP can be very difficult in the current economic and technological climate. Not only must one find a location that AT&T or Comcast is not already in; but one must also be wary of other ISP’s that are already established in the area. Moreover, finding a vendor who will treat you with the same respect they’d give to a much larger, more well-established business can be near impossible. Products and prices and strategies can be difficult to understand when you don’t have an expert to walk you through the process.

Challenge:

Lake County Broadband Solutions (LCBS) was looking to start their WISP and power up their network so that they could service an area in great need. CEO Andy Nester had contacted several suppliers and distributors with little-tono luck. LCBS had gotten the “run-around” from numerous companies and was frustrated by the lack of transparency, technical expertise, and respect for smaller customers.

Requirements:

LCBS was struggling to get the help they needed and to service their area with high-speed internet. They needed a solution that was reliable and would provide them with the bandwidth they needed. Moreover, they needed someone in their corner; an expert who could walk them through this difficult process and that would answer all the difficult questions they had to ask.

Solution: CTIconnect didn’t just provide LCBS with a product solution. Once we had serviced all their equipment needs with expert advice in tow, we also provided them with the customer/vendor relationship they needed as well. The same account executive who made initial contact remained with this customer from start to finish. The care, effort, and expertise with which CTIconnect handled their equipment needs made it clear to LCBS that they were in good hands. Not only did they finally get their needs met and their questions answered, but they felt comfortable that they were doing business with a company that would continue to strive for excellence on behalf of its clients; big or small.

Results:

LCBS successfully launched their network, thereby connecting hundreds of previously unconnected citizens in rural California. Not only did CTIconnect enable LCBS to become an integral and necessary part of the fabric of their community, but they even got some press as a result: http://www.record-bee.com/general-news/20180326/new-high-speed-internet-service-launches.