Case Study: Historic Science Museum Replaces Ancient Network

Talk about a wireless-unfriendly location.

The Science Place, a museum in Dallas, was constructed with steel-reinforced concrete walls, concrete floors, 25-foot ceilings, huge exhibit rooms and an ancient twin-axial cable networking backbone.

The museum is nestled among a cluster of similar 1930's art deco buildings in Fair Park. Opened in 1946, The Science Place houses exhibit halls, a planetarium, an IMAX Theater and the oldest science preschool in the southwestern United States.

The museum was awarded a free Access/One Network from Westlake Village, Calif.-based Strix Systems last month as part of the wireless networking vendor's Ethernet Unfriendly Building Contest. Strix manufactures a stackable WLAN system geared toward midsize companies and enterprises. Unlike traditional WLANs, which require wired Ethernet at every access point, the Strix Access/One Network uses a mesh-based wireless Ethernet backhaul for wire-free connections.

Strix Access/One Network uses a mesh-based wireless Ethernet backhaul.

Strix product pricing ranges from $850 to $1,300, depending upon the module mix. For instance, a Strix Access/One base module with one Ethernet port and an 802.11a radio is $900.

Mike Wright, director of information technology at the museum, said the wireless networking recommendation was made by Dallas-based solution provider Preferred Computers. The wireless solution is not only free, it also provides coverage in portions of the building where a wired network would be either impossible or extremely expensive, Wright said.

"The costs were beginning to mount and mount and mount because we were looking at literally hundreds of hours of labor to run fiber optic cable," he said.

In addition, Wright said, because the buildings in Fair Park are designated as National Historic Landmarks, there are limitations on what the museum can do in terms of drilling holes or changing the structure.

Joseph Harris, account executive at Preferred Computers, said the project is just under way and he expects installation to begin in earnest by mid-May. Plans include fiber optic cable to be run through the middle of the building, and up to 20 Strix Access/One Network nodes to be installed in the solid concrete portions of the museum.

"[The Strix WLAN solution] accomplishes the same thing as the fiber optic lines except with more versatility and rich features, at less than half the cost," Harris said.

The Strix mesh networking topology eliminates the need for a CAT5 jack in every location where there is an access point, so wireless backbones can be set up without the need for electrical outlets. And because the solution is self-configuring, he said, it allows for network segmentation.

"That's something we really like because you can create different trusted and untrusted networks," Harris said. "The potential for revenue from Internet access for the end user is great because you can segment off a network subnet and charge, for instance, exhibitors an extra fee."

ANATOMY OF A SOLUTION >> COMPANY: Preferred Computers, Dallas >> FOCUS: General IT services and wireless networking >> PPROBLEM & SOLUTION: The Science Place museum, Dallas, needed a wireless networking solution throughout its very hard-to-wire building. >> PRODUCTS & SERVICES USED: Strix Systems Access/One Network solution >> LESSONS LEARNED:  • Mesh-based wireless Ethernet network can provide coverage in areas where wired networks are not feasible or are prohibitively expensive.  • The potential for revenue from Internet access increases if WLAN solutions can be segmented.  • No structure is too difficult to network.

Aside from solving the museum's backbone problems, the Strix system will provide additional opportunities. For example, The Science Place hosts as many as 1,500 to 1,600 school children each day and hopes to use the technology to enhance their learning experience.

"We'd like to eventually be able to hand the teachers a handheld PC of some kind so they could retrieve additional information about our exhibits and displays as they walk through the galleries," Wright said.

The museum is also considering setting up hot-spots, as well as providing realtime streaming video and audio of its presentations.

Bob Jordan, co-founder and vice president of marketing for Strix, said the company has seen the most success in hard-to-wire scenarios such as the museum.

"When you get into these hard-to-wire and never-wired buildings, or even wired replacement, there is a huge pent-up demand for wireless," Jordan said.