BTW (PROX) broadband wireless up BIG this AM!
Proxim Broadband Wireless Network Delivers Fast, Cost-Effective Internet Throughput to Stafford County Public Schools
Monday June 14, 8:01 am ET
Stafford County Schools Improve Performance and Reduce Costs by Linking Schools in High-speed Wireless Network
SUNNYVALE, Calif., June 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Proxim Corporation (Nasdaq: PROX - News), a global leader in wireless networking equipment for Wi-Fi and broadband wireless networks, today announced that its Tsunami broadband wireless products are being used as the foundation for a new high-speed wireless network that links schools in the Stafford County, Virginia school system. The network, which currently links three high schools, six middle schools, five elementary schools and two support facilities, boasts increased Internet throughput speeds of at least 15-fold, delivering high-speed services to students, teachers and administrative staff at each school.
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A driving factor for implementing Stafford's new wireless network was the state of Virginia's Standards of Learning testing program. Previously, Stafford used paper and pencil versions of the Standards of Learning tests for which it took weeks to receive scores. Now, Stafford County schools offer tests online in a web-based format. Students taking the tests online receive their results within 48 hours of completing the test, as compared to the weeks that it would take to receive results for traditional, hard copy tests. The new, online testing not only benefits the students by yielding faster access to their testing results, but also allows more instructional time in the classroom.
Prior to implementing the new wireless network, Stafford used a single 128kbps ISDN leased line for each of the elementary and middle schools in the county, with T-3 lines at two of the high schools, that were vastly under-utilized at about 20% capacity. Had the County decided to use the leased lines for its entire networking solution, they would have easily spent the funds allotted to the monthly recurring costs of bandwidth and still not achieved the throughput that the wireless WAN now supplies.
Instead, Stafford worked with Northern Virginia networking integrator, SpeedLIN, Inc., (www.speedlin.com) to design and install Proxim Tsunami 5.3GHz, 45Mbps backhaul links and Tsunami Multipoint 20Mbps hubs sites at two cell towers in the county, with Tsunami Multipoint Subscriber Units at each school site. The resulting wireless network lets users tap into a T-3 from a centrally-located high school, increasing throughput speeds by 15-fold or more. The increased network usability delivers Internet access to approximately 20,000 students, as well as teachers and administrators, resulting in dramatically increased productivity. Teachers, administrators and staff members report that access to web sites is now measured in seconds, rather than minutes. As a direct result of the new, wireless WAN installation, the district can now conduct online Standards of Learning Testing at all four high schools, an unprecedented achievement in Stafford County Public Schools. As a result, Stafford plans to expand online testing to all middle schools for the 2005-2006 school ye |
