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Kenya
Education
PON Networks
Optical Networking
Establish a passive GPON network architecture that ensures quality while reducing costs and being environmentally friendly.
Meeting the demands of high-density populations with 24/7 network availability, and supporting flexible expansion and seamless upgrades for future networks.
Simplify network operations and maintenance with centralized equipment deployment and visualized management.
By deploying GPON networks, we saved 30-40% on initial construction costs, with installation taking as little as one week.
Fiber replaces copper, enabling equipment nodes to cover distances up to 20 km.
Each PON port on the OLT can support up to 128 ONUs, allowing a single OLT to handle over 2000 ONU connections.
The client has been collaborating with FS for nearly 10 years and is a non-profit educational institution based in Kenya. With the rapid advancement of IT, the number of devices accessing the campus network—such as smartphones, computers, and tablets—is experiencing explosive growth, and the current university network can no longer meet the needs of students and faculty.
Building a university network typically requires multiple site deployments and significant investment in equipment. However, the client has a limited budget and needs to control the project timeline, making cost control and delivery capability critical. They aim to establish a high-quality, scalable, easy-to-maintain, and secure university network architecture to support iterative upgrades.
Limited Budget: the campus network requires a complete upgrade, which involves setting up multiple sites and investing in numerous devices. Given the growing demand for internet access among faculty and students, it is crucial not only to reduce costs but also to ensure the network can accommodate future expansion. Furthermore, there is a shortage of IT staff on campus, and their skill levels vary, leading to high maintenance costs and significant challenges.
Poor Signal Coverage: the complex layout of the campus buildings results in weak or entirely absent wireless network signals in certain areas, failing to meet the internet needs of our faculty and students.
Cybersecurity Risks: students have a limited awareness of network security. Without effective security measures and proper management and control, there is a substantial risk of information breaches.
Lack of Technical Support: due to a lack of specialized technical knowledge, clients are unable to ensure smooth deployment, connectivity, and troubleshooting of solutions. Consequently, they require continuous and professional technical support services throughout the entire process.
To address the client's needs, FS recommended an all-optical GPON solution.
This solution adopts a point-to-multipoint(P2MP) network architecture with a purely passive Optical Distribution Network (ODN). By replacing expensive copper with fiber optic, it not only reduces cost investment but also supports diversified network services and future network expansion.
The FS GPON OLT deployed in the solution supports up to 1.25Gbps upstream and 2.5Gbps downstream rates. The FS ONU supports the Wi-Fi 6 standard, which means that faculty and students on campus can access the network 24/7 and enjoy high-speed, stable network access services.
Additionally, a single OLT can support access for over 2000 ONUs, enabling centralized management of FS ONUs via the OMCI protocol. Through a visual web UI, administrators can monitor the operating status of both OLT and ONUs in real-time, either on-site or remotely, thereby reducing operational and maintenance complexity. ONUs support 802.1x authentication and the TR-069 network management protocol, ensuring effective campus network security.
From the design of the solution to its deployment, the customer received technical support from FS throughout the entire process, ensuring smooth installation and rapid deployment.
The high-ROI passive GPON solution not only saves 30-40% in initial construction costs, but also conserves power resources, making it more environmentally friendly. With a wireless + wired network architecture and a coverage range of up to 20km between device nodes, this solution provides students and staff on campus with a high-speed, stable network experience. Furthermore, the PON network offers excellent scalability, allowing for flexible node additions based on actual needs, which easily meets future network expansion requirements.
Moreover, with visual management tools and diverse security protocols, the difficulty of network operation and maintenance is significantly reduced, and network security is effectively ensured. This not only reduces the workload and management pressure on maintenance personnel, but also enhances the overall stability, reliability, and security of the network.
Thanks to the joint efforts of FS and its customers, this project was delivered on schedule. FS looks forward to continuing collaboration with this customer to promote the comprehensive deployment of all-optical networks in universities.