Located in Gardena, California, the Lawndale Elementary School District (LESD) supports nine school campuses, including both elementary and middle schools. As a modern school district, LESD leveraged technology to support their staff, teachers, and students. When LESD discovered that their existing wireless network made it difficult for students, teachers, and staff members to use core applications and receive customer-focused technical support, the District turned to VPLS for a full replacement of their indoor and outdoor access points.
The goal of the network replacement was to improve network performance, increase network coverage, and provide excellent wireless service for all nine school campuses and the district office—while not exceeding the District’s budget.
The VPLS design for Lawndale Elementary School District included Ruckus R720 access points for most classrooms, with Ruckus R730 access points for indoor areas with higher expected wireless device density. For outdoor coverage, VPLS used Ruckus T710s because of the equipment’s ability to cover a dense area with a reliable connection. After completing the installation, VPLS also conducted wireless site surveys to ensure optimal wireless performance for the campuses.
By implementing a next-generation wireless network from VPLS, the District delivered customer-focused technical support and services to all schools and district departments. The network upgrade also provided optimal wireless coverage for critical student and teacher applications, necessary for increasing academic achievement.
“Throughout our wireless upgrade project, VPLS provided excellent onsite support from the initial receipt, tagging, and configuration of equipment, to the deployment and testing of all new devices,” said Todd Barker, Director of Information Technology for Lawndale Elementary School District. “Because of the careful design and deployment process, we expect the system to provide our students and staff with excellent wireless service into the foreseeable future.”
VPLS also worked with the Universal Service Administrative Co. (USAC) to secure the majority of the funding for the project via the federal E-rate initiative so that the project would fit within the District’s budget.
Learn more about VPLS’s network optimization services.
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