The second largest school district in the San Antonio area, North East Independent School District (NEISD) has more than 70 schools and magnet programs, with an expected fall 2010 enrollment of 66,000 students. The district offers a web-based curriculum and provides students with technology resources to conduct research, complete assignments and communicate with others to complement their learning experience.
“We were looking to upgrade our existing wireless network to a solution that would offer increased bandwidth and provide campus-wide, high-speed coverage to support the growing use of video and other multimedia applications in the classroom,” said Richard A. Middleton, NEISD superintendent. “Motorola and Minntek Solutions delivered a cost-effective solution that not only supports our immediate needs, but also serves as the backbone for building the classroom of the future.”
Minntek Solutions, a systems integrator and member of Motorola’s channel partner program, is installing its 802.11n wireless LAN (WLAN) and AirDefense Infrastructure Management solutions across the district’s K-12 schools. The secure wireless infrastructure will deliver high-speed voice, video and data streams to varied device types and high densities of users without interruption. Built-in mesh capability allows NEISD to extend network coverage to hard-to-wire places, such as portable classrooms, without the expense of digging trenches to pull cables.
To manage such a large, distributed network, NEISD selected Motorola’s AirDefense Infrastructure Management solution, a WLAN tool that ensures compliance with policies and consistency in configuration.
The Motorola network offers the flexibility to support personal devices, e-textbooks, smart boards and videoconferencing. Web 2.0 capabilities will enable students to collaborate inside and outside the classroom and access experts in the field. Once fully deployed, NEISD will have installed nearly 5,000 802.11n APs across elementary, middle and high schools across the district.
“K-12 is a growing market for WLAN, and as education becomes increasingly digital, school districts are turning to 11n as a reliable solution that helps future-proof their infrastructure investment and ensure delivery of multimedia content to classrooms and across campus,” said Sujai Hajela, vice president and general manager for Wireless Network Solutions, Motorola Enterprise Mobility Solutions.
