Beginning early in 2001 the DUSD Technology Department began experimenting with wireless networks. We soon realized the cost saving and performance benefits of wireless links between our school sites. From the beginning, our sites have been connected via frame relay circuits that use leased phone lines from our telephone company. These connections can be very expensive. The most common link each site had was a fractional T-1 link (128K) costing $2000 a year at each site. A wireless link provides 5 mbps of bandwidth (nearly 25 times more) with an initial, one-time cost of about $5,000.

Currently we will have five high capacity links. Two of these are located at Griffiths Middle School and Sussman Middle School which serve as 'wireless hubs'. Elementary schools in the surrounding area are linked to these "hub towers". Combined traffic is sent back to the central office through these links. The third high capacity link, at Columbus High, acts as a redundant back-up to our I.S.P. The other two are dedicated to Warren High and Downey High. New high capacity links are scheduled to be installed at East MidldleSchool and West Middle School.

We use Cisco Aironet 350 bridges with 24" parabolic antennas and directional yagi antennas. Our high-capacity links are Dragon Wave Air Pair systems with 24" and 36" antennas.

All wireless WAN links have now been completed. Currently our three high schools, all four middle schools and twelve elementary schools are linked as well as our main Internet link to our ISP.

The wireless project has moved into the next phase which focuses on wireless LAN networking. This enables students and staff to access the network anywhere on campus with a wireless enabled device such as a laptop or PDA. Currently West Middle, Williams, Gauldin and Lewis have campus-wide wireless LANs. Alameda, Carpenter, Imperial, Old River, Rio Hondo, Sussman, Ward and West are scheduled to get wireless LANs starting in Summer of 2005.