CHALLENGE: Irish Broadband needed reliable, around the clock remote access to equipment in its wireless broadband sites, which were often located in rugged terrain, without having to make major changes to its existing IT infrastructure.
SOLUTION: Alpha Micro Components implemented Lantronix SecureLinx™ IT management technology which delivered secure, reliable remote monitoring, management and control of wireless broadband installations.
BENEFIT: With Lantronix technology, Irish Broadband improved the quality of its services, cut network maintenance costs, and increased customer satisfaction and the potential for higher revenue in the future.
Irish Broadband, Ireland's leading wireless broadband provider and subsidiary of NTR, delivers fast and easy access to the Internet without the need for a fixed phone line. The company has experienced considerable expansion since 2002 and the number of its network licenses and coverage has more than tripled. It now has sites in Dublin, Limerick, Cork, Galloway and Waterford, where its staff installed infrastructure equipment in around 50 unmanned sites in each city. Irish Broadband currently has over 150 sites serving 46,000 customers and has plans to increase this to a further 300 sites by 2010.
THE SITUATION: MANY WIRELESS NETWORK SITES WERE OFTEN DIFFICULT TO ACCESS
Irish Broadband needed remote access, diagnostics and management functionality to be added to the infrastructure in its wireless hotspots, particularly in Dublin and Cork, where many were inaccessible due to the mountainous landscape. Without remote access, Irish Broadband had to send its staff on-site for maintenance and troubleshooting operations - a very labour and time intensive option, with several visits often necessary before problems were properly diagnosed and resolved.
This translated into increased costs and longer network downtime with a real risk of losing customers due to service disruptions. Irish Broadband was therefore looking for GPRS around–the-clock access to provide them the ability to remotely analyse the situation from the service centre and therefore resolve issues quicker, if not in real-time. They were also in need of a solution that would allow for easy integration with its existing infrastructure.
THE SOLUTION: PROVEN LANTRONIX IT MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY FOR SECURE, REMOTE ACCESS
Alpha Micro Components, a distributor of Lantronix products, proposed a solution that would allow the wireless broadband provider to monitor, manage and maintain its systems remotely via Lantronix SecureLinx product line.
Irish Broadband took advantage of Lantronix technology and installed 60 SecureLinx SLC console managers throughout its remote sites. They connected the SLCs to a modem, which utilised a SIM card from the local mobile network provider. This ensured out-of-band connection, independent of Irish Broadband’s network. The system used GPRS technology to transmit information between the control centre and the remote sites to manage and troubleshoot routers and Ethernet switches.
By using SecureLinx SLC, Irish Broadband engineers now benefit from secure, remote access to the telecom’s servers and IT infrastructure equipment. They can now monitor, manage and troubleshoot nearly anything in the system centre, from anywhere and at any time, regardless if the servers or networks are down. This capability means faster response times, which translates into reduced costs and less downtime.
Requiring a centralised remote control centre, Irish Broadband also installed a Lantronix SecureLinx Management Appliance (SLM) to manage its entire national network of SLCs, routers, switches, etc. from a single location using a standard web browser.
Of particular benefit to Irish Broadband, SLM provided them the ability to control multiple (up to 256) remote devices for up to 25 simultaneous users. The SLM’s integrated centralised management was optimal for Irish Broadband.
With Lantronix SecureLinx technology, Irish Broadband can easily monitor the performance of their equipment, receive alerts if a problem arises, analyse any situation and reboot the system without physically attending the site. In addition, SecureLinx product line ensures accountability with login records and a secure connection to the equipment with 128-bit SSL/SSH encryption.
Maxine Hewitt, Sales Manager, Alpha Micro Components commented: “The Irish Broadband contract is a good illustration of the outstanding benefits offered by remote management for service providers and the telecom infrastructure. Customers can greatly benefit from our past experience with similar projects making the transition smooth and quick.”
THE RESULT: UNINTERRUPTED, REAL TIME CONNECTION TO IRISH BROADBAND’S WIRELESS NETWORK SITES AND IMPROVED CUSTOMER SERVICE
With wireless broadband service in all major cities in Ireland, Irish Broadband now benefits from an out-of-band network management solution. The new set-up allows the wireless provider to respond to its network from a single location within a fraction of the time, allowing for significant savings and several man hours. They’ve also experienced increased uptime and a higher level of customer satisfaction due to better quality of service and fewer disruptions.
“We went to Lantronix because of the outstanding reputation its products have earned. Lantronix provided the total solution we needed along with local support from Alpha Micro, which ensured a smooth implementation of the new system. With Lantronix technology, we’ve been able to further improve our quality of service, which is a major benefit to our customers and our main source of revenue. In addition, we were able to significantly reduce our spending on network maintenance and recovered our investment within the first month of installation,” said Niall Clyne, vice president of operations of Irish Broadband.
