Dartmouth Scales Up Its Wireless NetworkDartmouth Scales Up Its Wireless Network

Faced with a telecommunications infrastructure that's unable to scale to support its sprawling campus in rural New Hampshire, Dartmouth College is investing in wireless technology that will allow it to expand its main campus network to off-site buildings.

Dartmouth will use GigaBeam Corp.'s WiFiber, a point-to-point fiber-link wireless system that uses high radio frequencies of 71 to 76 GHz and 81 to 86 GHz, both of which were recently authorized by the FCC. These frequencies support the transmission of data at the speed of 1 Gbps. The college will install two WiFiber links in April to support the expansion. The initial link will be to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center to support Dartmouth Medical School applications and research. Eventually, WiFiber will allow Dartmouth to extend its IP-based network that supports voice, video, and data to remote areas. "In order to run the converged services over IP, as well as high-speed cluster computing, you need large bandwidth, which is always a problem in rural areas," says Robert Johnson, director of telecommunications and network services at Dartmouth.

The college will use WiFiber to create high-speed networks in addition to VPNs on campus, and to enable access between buildings and extend the main campus network off-site. The cost of the wireless project wasn't disclosed.