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CONNECTIVITY NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 44 provide students with high-speed Internet and video service in a dense multi-unit building is a fber-based active Ethernet. "This type of deploy- ment involves running fber to communications rooms — rooms where all of the telecom cables originate in each building — located throughout the property where electronics are placed," he says. "The data signal is then converted and redistributed to the units over cat 5 or cat 6 cable for high- speed Internet. The video signal is converted and redistributed to the units using RG6 (coaxial) cable. There are distance limitations associated with RG6 cable that must be considered when locating comm rooms. "For cottage-style properties, passive optical network (PON) is the pre- ferred architecture," says Holtz. "In a PON-style architecture, fber is run to a main distribution point, then distributed to each unit after being optically split where the signal is converted using an optical network terminal for Internet and video service. There are no electronics required between the main distribution hub and the unit, eliminating the need for comm rooms." Keeping Up the Connection Technology and its abilities improve daily, and connectivity in multi-unit housing is no different. Outftting large communities or buildings with the newest and shiniest is a very costly endeavor, especially when it relates to the bones of the technology, or infrastructure. Deciding what to spend and when is a constant concern for operators and can be used as a negotiating tool for operation contracts. According to Pye, communities need to consider an upgrade of band- width every two years, wireless equipment every three to four years and wired equipment every four to fve years. "The management of these items is constantly evolving," he says. "Most vendors consistently push through setting and software modifcations to onsite equipment. However, as a result of capital budgets and sale of com- munities, it is common for all of the capital upgrades to occur every three years or at a disposition, when expense can be capitalized. Pye says that RealPage often works with owners to upgrade a commu- nity's entire Internet (and often video) system when they acquire the com- munity while already budgeting for the next Wi-Fi upgrade cost four years later. "This year we will upgrade nearly 100 communities," he says. "Almost all of these communities will get new wireless access points, gigabit switches and signifcant bandwidth increases. Capitalizing the upgrades is critical, especially when acquiring an asset. It is almost always less expensive to cover capital costs than to amortize in the monthly expense. In most cases, a one-time capital cost is less than half the price of amortizing the upgrades. "Many older communities simply cannot afford $100,000 or more for a wireless upgrade every three to four years," he says. "As a result, some older communities are removing older wireless equipment and providing only wired high-speed Internet access." In Georgia, Elauwit upgraded outdated infrastructure at a property without wireless service. More than 1,200 beds were converted with gigabit- to-the-unit equipment, 802.11ac access points and 40 Mbps per resident speeds. In Colorado, near the University of Denver, Elauwit removed and replaced an analog video headend at a student housing property in order to deliver high-defnition television programming, added in-unit Wi-Fi throughout the high-rise facility, and took an extremely slow Internet net- work with 100 Mbps circuit to a blazing-fast 1 Gbps circuit supported by the appropriate switches for maximum throughput, resulting in 100 Mbps per bed speeds for residents. According to Katerina Shineleva of Campus Technologies, "Use of carrier- class wired network equipment and forward planning gives wireline infra- structure an approximately 10-year service life. Use of a platform-based wireless network provides similar lifespan for management servers." "The only potentially obsolescent devices are wireless access points, which require a swap out when technologies change," she says. "There's nothing you can do about that, unfortunately, other than deploy the latest available standard." Airwave Networks, an Annapolis, Maryland-based networking company, is also making modifcations to Internet infrastructure. According to John elauwit.com 800-948-5874 RUCKUS WIRELESS NORTH AMERICAN PARTNER OF THE YEAR! NORTH AMERICAN PARTNER OF THE YEAR! RUCKUS WIRELESS NORTH AMERICAN PARTNER OF THE YEAR! ELAUWIT NETWORKS IS HONORED TO BE NAMED internet wif video RUN WITH THE BIGGEST DOG OR STAY ON THE PORCH the biggest dog's new trophy