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School district heading wireless

Technology offers greater speed than traditional lines

School district officials are looking to get on board with the latest wireless technology.

The district has installed a new wireless system to five buildings in the city that will help the district’s computer server system. Seltice, Mullan Trail, New Vision, district headquarters and the city’s new River City Middle School have all been upgraded.

By JERRY MANTER
Staff writer

http://www.cdapress.com/articles/2004/08/10/business/bus01.txt

"We’re definitely going to benefit with speed," said John Pilmore, network administrator. "It’s so much faster and reliable."

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The old systems were running on 384 kilobytes per second, and with the wireless technology, officials will be able to run on 27 megabytes. Pilmore and other technical officials began the installation in early summer.

"We decided it would be a good time to try," Pilmore said.

The wireless technology is being installed to meet the requirements from the state. School districts throughout Idaho will move to a statewide student information system.

"All districts are required to upgrade the bandwidth," said Jerry Keane, Post Falls School district superintendent. "Districts need to have that bandwidth in three years."

Keane said the district has paid $24,000 for the current upgrade. While the technology offers more convenience, it’s also going to save some money. Under the wireless system, the district will no longer pay for phone line fees.

"It’s zero cost to the district long-term," he said. "We’ll pay this off in three years."

Officials plan to upgrade all schools in the district. Up next will be Post Falls High School, and Prairie View and Ponderosa elementary schools. Keane said the district and the city have been working together to prepare for the installations. The wireless devices, which resemble cable satellite dishes, need to be in the line of sight at each location for the entire system to work properly.

Pilmore, who worked on the installation, said he thinks the upgrade will help the district in the long run.

"It’s just a real big plus for us," he said. "It’s going to be a benefit all around."

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