See how a senior living community got help for their plan to upgrade from coax to fiber with no in-house network design expertise required.
SITUATION
Mt. San Antonio Gardens, a large retirement community in California, was ready to make the switch to a modern fiber optic network that could support the current connectivity demands of their residents while preparing for future growth across their campus of homes, apartments, and administrative buildings.
They reached out to Network Connex for guidance and our team got to work designing a custom fiber backbone tailored to their existing infrastructure and long-term goals.
REQUIREMENTS
Mt. San Antonio’s IT team needed a fiber design partner who could effectively:
01
Augment in-house fiber expertise
Support the IT team by helping them understand what was possible and how to get started with the upgrade.
02
Work with legacy infrastructure
Assess the current coaxial cable (DOCSIS) network and explore upgrade options that leverage existing infrastructure to minimize disruption and cost.
03
Work from existing documentation
Use maps and measurements provided by Mt. San Antonio Gardens staff to inform the new campus communications system design.
04
Design for scalability
Develop a network design that accommodates future expansion.
05
Clarify needed budget
Provide a realistic design and pricing framework to enable Mt. San Antonio Garden’s team to solicit and evaluate contractor bids effectively.
KEY PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
Network Connex delivered an initial network plan along with consultative advice for bringing the project to life:
- Campus-wide fiber layout—Created a comprehensive passive optical network (PON) design covering backbone, distribution, and drop cable routes.
- Leveraged existing infrastructure—Incorporated Mt. San Antonio’s existing cabinets, hubs, and pathways to save time and reduce costs.
- Consultative support—Clarified next steps in the design and deployment process, empowering the IT team to move forward with confidence. (Read more on our full range of Professional Services)
- Pricing model & BOM—Provided a realistic pricing summary with estimated fiber footages and preferred equipment brands to simplify the evaluation of contractor bids.
- Seamless remote collaboration—Worked closely with the team to deliver a complete, build-ready design, even without an on-site presence.
RESULTS
Building for Redundancy and Future Growth
Consultative design work from Network Connex paved the foundation for a successful campus connectivity update. At the completion of the design project, Mt. Antonio Gardens had:
- A clear cost structure to help kick off the construction phase smoothly.
- A scalable fiber network design tailored for the campus environment’s MDUs and many endpoints.
- Confidence to proceed with a campus-wide upgrade even with limited technical fiber optic expertise.
“My team knows a lot about technology, but we aren’t fiber experts and working with Network Connex we didn’t need to be. The team made the whole process smooth and understandable.”
—Dan Jepson, Director of Technology and Innovation, Mt. San Antonio Gardens
WHAT’S NEXT?
While the fiber network upgrade has a way to go, Mt. San Antonio Gardens has a strong foundation to begin the backbone construction phase and plan for the next stages of the build. As a turnkey infrastructure provider, Network Connex is staying in close touch and available to help with next steps such as in-building fiber layouts, ISP equipment pricing, or cabling install.
Ready to Upgrade Your Campus Network?
You don’t need to be a fiber expert, we’ll walk you through it. Whether you’re in charge of communications for a university, senior living campus, enterprise, or municipal complex, we’re here to help you build a smarter, scalable network with turnkey solutions from fiber network design to fiber construction.