ADTRAN ActivReach
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ADTRAN ActivReach Placé Bonaventure Conference Center Turns to ADTRAN’s ActivReach to Restore its Historic Network Situated in Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada, adjacent to the city’s Central Station, Placé Bonaventure Conference Center is a historic office, exhibition and hotel complex. At approximately 330,000 square feet and five levels tall, Placé Bonaventure was the second largest commercial building in the world at the time of its completion in 1967. The End of a Network Era e historic Placé Bonaventure Conference Center has successfully withstood the test of time as it has evolved from an international trade center and hotel with retail space to a conference center, exhibition hall and hotel. While the building’s infrastructure has weathered many Canadian storms, its network infrastructure began to crack under the weight of technological advancements, an increasing demand for data and the need for a capacity-rich network to support it all. e original, out-of-date cabling made it impossible to support the needs of the center. Placé Bonaventure’s main hall has CAT3 cable running on 2,000-3,000 feet of telephone wire. irty years ago, 12 telephone lines for every one data line would suffice, but today the center requires more data lines than phone lines to provide the appropriate coverage for the center. Without adequate cabling, Placé Bonaventure faced the challenge of providing exhibitors with the necessary Internet access to power their exhibit spaces. “It was not hugely about the bandwidth, but more about adding a service or not,” said Joël Cyr, networking consultant and IT support, Cyr Networks Inc. “ere would be 12 pairs of cable lines on one pillar, but no data lines. It was more of an issue of coverage.” Teaching an Old Network New Tricks Cyr and his team were contracted by Placé Bonaventure Conference Center to design and manage a more efficient version of the center’s historic network infrastructure. At a staggering $200,000, the cost to replace the entire infrastructure with fiber was not feasible. Aſter receiving a demo of ADTRAN’s NetVanta® 1535P with ActivReach Ethernet technology, Cyr made the decision to introduce the solution into Placé Bonaventure’s network, as an addition to other ADTRAN solutions, which it was already deploying. e NetVanta 1535P with ActivReach technology enables IP-based voice, data, video and PoE over voice-quality wiring. e technology supports CAT6, CAT5, CAT3 or legacy copper wiring and extends Ethernet reach up to 1,600 feet (488 meters) without the need for additional fiber, repeaters or switch infrastructure. is capability can be ideal for large floor space locations, such as high-rise buildings, warehouses and resorts. A single integrated switch delivers Ethernet connectivity across all wiring infrastructures. Placé Bonaventure Conference Center’s selection of ADTRAN’s ActivReach switches provided a huge cost and time savings for the center. e switches were connected into Placé Bonaventure’s existing voice network that ran through the exhibit hall and all the phone lines were immediately upgraded to support data and PoE. e conference center IT staff is now able to reconfigure the network for voice and data in a few short minutes, which is a significant benefit for an exhibit hall as the layout of the space is always temporary. “Exhibitor booth is not always situated at the same place and sometimes they will About Placé Bonaventure Conference Center Placé Bonaventure Conference Center is a historic office, exhibition and hotel complex built in 1967 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Challenge The conference center’s original infrastructure’s cable wiring was unable to support the modern technological requirements and needs of its tenants and exhibitors. The Solution ADTRAN’s ActivReach Ethernet technology was able to extend the reach and capability of the center’s original voice-quality cabling to deliver voice, data, video and PoE. The Benefit By deploying ActivReach, Placé Bonaventure Conference Center was able to avoid replacing the entire network with fiber, saving them money while still gaining the support needed for its exhibit hall. “It was not hugely about the bandwidth, but more about adding a service or not. There would be 12 pairs of cable lines on one pillar, but no data lines. It was more of an issue of coverage.” Joël Cyr, Networking Consultant and IT Support Cyr Networks Inc.
Transcript of ADTRAN ActivReach
ADTRAN ActivReachPlacé Bonaventure Conference Center Turns to ADTRAN’s ActivReach to Restore its Historic Network
Situated in Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada, adjacent to the city’s Central Station, Placé Bonaventure Conference Center is a historic office, exhibition and hotel complex. At approximately 330,000 square feet and five levels tall, Placé Bonaventure was the second largest commercial building in the world at the time of its completion in 1967.
The End of a Network EraThe historic Placé Bonaventure Conference Center has successfully withstood the test of time as it has evolved from an international trade center and hotel with retail space to a conference center, exhibition hall and hotel.
While the building’s infrastructure has weathered many Canadian storms, its network infrastructure began to crack under the weight of technological advancements, an increasing demand for data and the need for a capacity-rich network to support it all. The original, out-of-date cabling made it impossible to support the needs of the center. Placé Bonaventure’s main hall has CAT3 cable running on 2,000-3,000 feet of telephone wire. Thirty years ago, 12 telephone lines for every one data line would suffice, but today the center requires more data lines than phone lines to provide the appropriate coverage for the center.
Without adequate cabling, Placé Bonaventure faced the challenge of providing exhibitors with the necessary Internet access to power their exhibit spaces. “It was not hugely about the bandwidth, but more about adding a service or not,” said Joël Cyr, networking consultant and IT support, Cyr Networks Inc. “There would be 12 pairs of cable lines on one pillar, but no data lines. It was more of an issue of coverage.”
Teaching an Old Network New TricksCyr and his team were contracted by Placé Bonaventure Conference Center to design and manage a more efficient version of the center’s historic network infrastructure. At a staggering $200,000, the cost to replace the entire infrastructure with fiber was not feasible. After receiving a demo of ADTRAN’s NetVanta® 1535P with ActivReach Ethernet technology, Cyr made the decision to introduce the solution into Placé Bonaventure’s network, as an addition to other ADTRAN solutions, which it was already deploying.
The NetVanta 1535P with ActivReach technology enables IP-based voice, data, video and PoE over voice-quality wiring. The technology supports CAT6, CAT5, CAT3 or legacy copper wiring and extends Ethernet reach up to 1,600 feet (488 meters) without the need for additional fiber, repeaters or switch infrastructure. This capability can be ideal for large floor space locations, such as high-rise buildings, warehouses and resorts. A single integrated switch delivers Ethernet connectivity across all wiring infrastructures.
Placé Bonaventure Conference Center’s selection of ADTRAN’s ActivReach switches provided a huge cost and time savings for the center. The switches were connected into Placé Bonaventure’s existing voice network that ran through the exhibit hall and all the phone lines were immediately upgraded to support data and PoE. The conference center IT staff is now able to reconfigure the network for voice and data in a few short minutes, which is a significant benefit for an exhibit hall as the layout of the space is always temporary. “Exhibitor booth is not always situated at the same place and sometimes they will
About Placé Bonaventure Conference Center Placé Bonaventure Conference Center is a historic office, exhibition and hotel complex built in 1967 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
The Challenge The conference center’s original infrastructure’s cable wiring was unable to support the modern technological requirements and needs of its tenants and exhibitors.
The SolutionADTRAN’s ActivReach Ethernet technology was able to extend the reach and capability of the center’s original voice-quality cabling to deliver voice, data, video and PoE.
The BenefitBy deploying ActivReach, Placé Bonaventure Conference Center was able to avoid replacing the entire network with fiber, saving them money while still gaining the support needed for its exhibit hall.
“It was not hugely about the bandwidth, but more about adding a service or not. There would be 12 pairs of cable lines on one pillar, but no data lines. It was more of an issue of coverage.” Joël Cyr, Networking Consultant and IT SupportCyr Networks Inc.
move it at the last minute. So, if we cannot do it with Wi-Fi®, we will need a wired connection within a couple of minutes. With ActivReach, we are able to make the adjustment on the fly,” said Marylène Beaudry, Exhibition Halls Director, Placé Bonaventure
The Show Must Go OnThe addition of ADTRAN’s ActivReach technology ensures the center is able to support the large shows and exhibits that help it grow its business. For example, critical broadcasts from the Montreal Book Show, the largest book show in the country, were made possible due to the addition of the NetVanta switches with ActivReach.
Placé Bonaventure Conference Center is planning to expand its use of ActivReach technology within the next year to provide additional support for the center’s exhibitors, and has already deployed additional ADTRAN switches within the past eight months as well. Currently, Placé Bonaventure is able to support 30 expos per year, and expects to grow that number to 40+ with the help of ActivReach technology.
“For me, to think of the previous cabling environment at the conference center, it was the worst environment you could think of,” said Cyr. “The cable line was really old, it was very low quality and the distances to connect endpoints were over a 1,000 feet. Now we are having tremendous results offering data and PoE connectivity over a single pair of cable wire lines running in excess of 2,000 feet. It was pretty amazing. I think it’s a good example of giving new life to old architecture.”
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