GiraffeDog Technical Services Limited

Bishops Park College - Jaywick Martello Tower

Preface

The Essex coast has always been vulnerable to attack from the seaward side. The Napoleonic period was no exception. A line of defensive fortresses, known as Martello Towers, were built to defend the coastal towns from Napoleon's forces. Some of these can still be seen along the coast, and some have been adapted for more peaceful uses such as the Jaywick Martello Tower which is now an Arts centre.

The Task

GiraffeDog were challenged to find a way to connect a remote working environment, Jaywick Martello Tower, to the nearby Bishop Park College's computer network. The minimum speed for the connection had to be at least 4Mbps in both directions.

Our Approach

We rose to the challenge, with interest and excitement. Working with the community so closely is something that GiraffeDog.net is always keen to do.
We considered a number of options;

• Binding multiple ADSL lines
• Leased Line
• SDSL Line
• Wireless Point to Point Link

However, as upstream and downstream speeds were crucial, as was working to a budget, we were unable to give further consideration to the first three options. We needed to provide the College with a 3km point to point wireless link. This was to be made possible by erecting a 6 meter mast on the roof of the school, and a 3 meter mast on the Martello Tower.

Our Findings

There seemed to be one problem, a group of trees in the direct line of sight between the two mast locations. Fortunately we were working on the project in the height of summer when all the leaves were still on the trees. This meant that if the link worked at this time of year, it would work all year round, as it's the leaves on the trees that cause problems with a wireless link.

Our Results

We put our preconfigured, secured wireless network sender/receiver devices on the masts and pointed them in the correct directions.
Due to the equipment we were using and the quality of the line of sight, we achieved a sustained wireless link of 10Mbps in both directions, with a latencey of around 4ms.
This was fantastic news for the School and of course GiraffeDog.net, as we managed to far exceed the minimum specification for the link. We're now over a year on from the installation, and the link is still running just as effectively, with out any problems, errors or reboots.

Other Wireless Links

This details just one wireless link we've erected. We have extensive experience in, and can provide you with one of the following types of wireless network solutions:

• Point to Point
• Point to Multipoint
• Mesh Network

If you require any form of wireless connection please get in touch with us and we'll be happy to provide you with a quote.