Mushroom Networks, Inc. today
announced that TRUFFLE, the company's flagship product, has been
implemented by East Wake Academy. TRUFFLE solved two critical challenges
for the private elementary school: Internet reliability and computer
access. The solution, which optimizes Internet speed and reliability
while creating cost-savings for all types of businesses, enabled East
Wake Academy to nearly double the number of computers at the school.
With improved computer and Internet access, East Wake students and
teachers can also work more efficiently to maximize productivity and
learning in the classroom.
"East Wake Academy is an educational institution dedicated to the implementation of 21st
century technology. Our teachers and students rely heavily on resources
found on the Internet. A fast, reliable connection to those online
resources is essential to our success as a school and our students'
success in the classroom," said Michael Durdin, network administrator
for East Wake Academy.
Before installing Mushroom Network's TRUFFLE device, East
Wake Academy (a K-12 Charter School with about 1,050 students) relied on
only one 6mb DSL line to provide Internet access to 250 computers. The
Internet went down intermittently each day and teachers would have to
stop their lessons while the modem was reset. Internet down-time caused
classes to lose momentum, while students lost precious time on the
computers.
Durdin added, "I can't blame the issues we were having on the
DSL service we had. It was never designed to handle 250 computers. We
were pushing it way past its limits due to budget constraints. We were
unable to afford the same expensive Internet options as larger companies
and campuses. This not only limited the amount of computers we could
have on campus, but the use of other technologies as well.
Since installing the TRUFFLE, East Wake Academy has grown the
amount of computers on campus from 250 to 497, distributed over six
buildings. Fiber optic cable is used to connect each building to the one
housing the TRUFFLE, which is connected to one T-1 line and five 6mb
DSL lines. Now, East Wake's students and teachers can access the
Internet reliably and with maximum speed to vastly improve efficiency in
the classroom.
"With Mushroom Networks' TRUFFLE device, we took the same DSL
technology we had, added four new lines, and are now supplying
approximately 500 computers with quick and reliable Internet service.
Most importantly, we have the room we need to grow as an organization,"
said Durdin.
Mushroom Networks' line of Broadband Bonding products
including TRUFFLE easily installs between the broadband modems and the
local network at the customer's premises without requiring any
configuration changes to the existing network, and does not require any
coordination with the ISPs. The device bonds as many as twelve
high-speed Internet connections of any type, wired or wireless, from
multiple service providers into a single Internet connection.
"Mushroom Networks' TRUFFLE device was extremely easy to
setup. First, I hooked it to the network and issued it a suitable IP
address. Second, I put the DSL modems in bridge mode and hooked them to
the front of the device. Lastly, I configured each DSL line for PPPOE
with username and password. That was it. The first-time setup can be
done really quickly by anyone with basic networking experience," added
Durdin.
The school faculty reports Mushroom Networks' TRUFFLE device
is performing better than they had imagined. The school now has
the ability to add multiple 6mb DSL lines at a price of $75.00 each.
"The TRUFFLE has been an absolute life-saver. Minus the T1
line, we could max out the version of the TRUFFLE we have with six DSL
or Cable lines for approximately $450. That is a deal for fast, reliable
Internet service," said Durdin.
Small and medium businesses face many challenges when it
comes to choosing Internet services. Legacy technologies like T-1 and
MPLS are reliable but very expensive and yield slow performance when
compared with today's DSL or cable standards. DSL and cable have fast
downloads but offer slow upload speed, which is unacceptable for many
businesses as well as schools. In addition, service quality can
dramatically fluctuate depending on physical distance to the Internet
Service Provider or time of day.