Case Studies

City of Reading, Pa.

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Challenge:

An important factor in Reading's search for a connectivity solution was finding a highly secure system that would preserve the integrity of sensitive data. In addition, city officials determined they needed a Gigabit Ethernet link, which provides 1.25 gigabits per second-more than 25 times the throughput of a standard fixed T3 line.

When the city's IT manager, Henry Tangredi, began his evaluation of connectivity alternatives, he contemplated T3 lines from a local service provider, but found the bandwidth to be inadequate and monthly leasing costs exorbitant. Fiber-optic cable was also ruled out because installation would require deep trenching beneath railroad tracks in an established urban setting. In addition, fiber optics involved a costly long-term leasing commitment from a local service provider.

Seeking a more economical alternative that would also support a government disaster recovery plan to transport nightly data backups of up to one terabit of data to the new facility, the city enlisted the help of Integral Wireless Solutions, Inc. As a Reading-based reseller specializing in wireless products and services, Integral Wireless introduced Tangredi and his team to LightPointe, a pioneer in the development of Optical Wireless solutions based on free-space optics (FSO) technology.

LightPointe designs and manufactures license-free, high-speed outdoor wireless products that have earned high marks in both government and Enterprise networking installations. Optical Wireless products link two or more buildings with classic LAN-to-LAN backbone connectivity, delivering bandwidth from 100 Mbps up to 1.25 Gbps.

After confirming line-of-sight for a wireless connection between the two buildings, and following careful due diligence, Tangredi and his staff decided their best all-around choice for cost savings, security and reliability was LightPointe. They chose the LightPointe FlightStrataT, a high-performance Optical Wireless system with full-duplex throughput of up to 1.25 Gbps.

The Solution:

According to city of Reading Mayor Thomas McMahon, the LightPointe FlightStrata has provided an ideal building-to-building connectivity solution for Reading. "The decision to go with LightPointe was easy," explains McMahon, who is leading the city to deploy advanced technologies. "LightPointe met all of our requirements while also delivering a quick return on investment, with pricing at a fraction of other alternatives. Best of all, the FlightStrata saved the city from the trenching disruptions of fiber-optic cable."

High-speed campus-style networks in urban settings such as Reading are driving increased demand for Optical Wireless connectivity solutions, according to Mickey Branson, executive vice president of business development for Integral Wireless Solutions. "Customers in government and private settings alike deploy Gigabit LANs only to face connectivity challenges as they expand operations to additional buildings," adds Branson. "LightPointe solves the dilemma with secure, high-speed wireless links that are ideal for handling today's bandwidth-intensive applications, such as voice over IP, digital imaging and video."

As LightPointe's flagship product, FlightStrata not only delivers maximum performance for the city of Reading, but also offers Multi-Beam Array Tracking (MBAT), Automatic Power Control (APC) and Optical Beam Shaping (OBS). These advanced features ensure system redundancy via multiple send-and-receive paths, provide additional power during reduced weather visibility and allow continuous adjustment to address any movement from building sway.

Sound Byte:

"Ensuring data integrity is critically important to us. Because it's virtually impossible to intercept an optical wireless transmission, we have every assurance that LightPointe is providing the utmost in protection for our sensitive city data."
— Henry Tangredi, IT Manager, City of Reading