Huntington Independent School District

Small rural school district in Texas builds the fastest network using RUCKUS Networks

As 400 middle-school students logged onto the Edgenuity courseware, the Huntington Independent School District (ISD) network crashed. When Jeff Baird, technical director for Huntington ISD, called his vendor to fix the problem, their response was as slow as the network. To make matters worse, replacing access points (APs) or patching software didn’t improve the situation. And, as the problems continued, the costs kept mounting.

Before selecting his next network partner, Baird set out two criteria: First, he required technology that can take the district network far into the future. And second, he needed a partner offering reliable back-end support that enables them to respond quickly should anything go wrong.

By deploying RUCKUS stackable multigigabit ICX® switches, Baird was immediately able to ramp up his network speed to 2 Gbps. And due to new RUCKUS APs, which are Wi-Fi 6 certified, the network’s high-density performance went through the roof. But what was most satisfying was that RUCKUS Virtual SmartZone™ network controller allowed Baird and his IT staff to manage every AP and switch from a single-pane-of-glass dashboard.

By deploying patent-filled RUCKUS switches and APs, Huntington ISD transitioned from a slow public education network to one of the fastest school networks in the state—maybe even in the nation.