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"West Virginia Homeland Security chief Jimmy Gianato, who's leading the state broadband project, defended the $24 million router purchase last week, saying the

"West Virginia Homeland Security chief Jimmy Gianato, who's leading the state broadband project, defended the $24 million router purchase last week, saying the devices "could meet many different needs and be used for multiple applications." "Our main concerns were to not have something that would become obsolete in a couple of years," Gianato said. "Looking at how technology evolves, we wanted something that was scalable, expandable and viable, five to 10 years out. We wanted to make sure every place had the same opportunity across the state." Wow. I've spent some time in West Virginia libraries, and yes the internet connection was slow, but it's not due to the router. And in most towns, libraries and schools are not going to be serving anyone outside their walls with some kind of WAN. Best case will be public wireless near the building. And how is it that the "West Virginia Homeland Security chief" is "leading the state broadband project"? Seems like bureaucratic overreach, technical ignorance, and budget authority all wrapped in. Why not spend $50 for a router for libraries and something less than $22k per school?

dfc 14y ago
What decent router costs $50? That blue soho router your thinking of is for your mom's house not a statewide installation.
- mikescar 14y ago
  A router that can handle 5-30 clients at current internet speed standards within a library setting. Yes, bigger installations could benefit from a $20k router, but the vast majority of these routers are a complete waste of money in WV outside of Charleston and Morgantown. Unless there is some big backbone being built that can service a mostly small-town and very mountainous state, spending $20k (each!) now so that your routing infrastructure within schools and libraries won't be too slow in a couple years is kinda crazy.
  - wpietri 14y ago
    I run my office network off of a $50 router quite happily. But that's because I'm right there to take care of it. Earlier this year, for example, our network got a fever: http://nerdfeed.needfeed.com/blog/2012/02/our-network-has-a-fever/ http://nerdfeed.needfeed.com/blog/2012/02/our-network-has-a-... If I needed to cover 1,000 widely scattered locations for the next decade, there is no way I would try to do that with a bunch of consumer-grade stuff. Especially when trying to manage a bunch of existing T1s and a conversion to fiber.
- crazygringo 14y ago
  For a library that only has four computers... I don't see the difference from my Mom's house.
  - clarky07 14y ago
    The difference is that the library doesn't have nearly as many devices as my house.
jsz0 14y ago
These routers are pretty good choices for the schools. For the smaller sites it's hard to say without knowing their exact requirements for the future. For example this might be related to your question about the Homeland Security Chief being involved. Libraries are multipurpose buildings. In an emergency they could be used as an emergency response command center. Perhaps the library is used as a polling place and they have specific security requirements. The state may have decided it was in their best interest long term to equip all government buildings with a baseline level of equipment. I think part of the reaction to this story is people coming to terms with how much real network equipment costs. It's definitely not cheap. You're paying for features, service, long-term support, upgradability, reliability, etc. Some of these routers will probably be in use 15 years from now. I've still got a Cisco 2500 series router chugging away. Next year will be it's 20th birthday. This stuff is built to last.
deleted 14y ago
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dfc 14y ago

What decent router costs $50? That blue soho router your thinking of is for your mom's house not a statewide installation.

mikescar 14y ago
A router that can handle 5-30 clients at current internet speed standards within a library setting. Yes, bigger installations could benefit from a $20k router, but the vast majority of these routers are a complete waste of money in WV outside of Charleston and Morgantown. Unless there is some big backbone being built that can service a mostly small-town and very mountainous state, spending $20k (each!) now so that your routing infrastructure within schools and libraries won't be too slow in a couple years is kinda crazy.
- wpietri 14y ago
  I run my office network off of a $50 router quite happily. But that's because I'm right there to take care of it. Earlier this year, for example, our network got a fever: http://nerdfeed.needfeed.com/blog/2012/02/our-network-has-a-fever/ http://nerdfeed.needfeed.com/blog/2012/02/our-network-has-a-... If I needed to cover 1,000 widely scattered locations for the next decade, there is no way I would try to do that with a bunch of consumer-grade stuff. Especially when trying to manage a bunch of existing T1s and a conversion to fiber.
crazygringo 14y ago
For a library that only has four computers... I don't see the difference from my Mom's house.
- clarky07 14y ago
  The difference is that the library doesn't have nearly as many devices as my house.

jsz0 14y ago

These routers are pretty good choices for the schools. For the smaller sites it's hard to say without knowing their exact requirements for the future. For example this might be related to your question about the Homeland Security Chief being involved. Libraries are multipurpose buildings. In an emergency they could be used as an emergency response command center. Perhaps the library is used as a polling place and they have specific security requirements. The state may have decided it was in their best interest long term to equip all government buildings with a baseline level of equipment. I think part of the reaction to this story is people coming to terms with how much real network equipment costs. It's definitely not cheap. You're paying for features, service, long-term support, upgradability, reliability, etc. Some of these routers will probably be in use 15 years from now. I've still got a Cisco 2500 series router chugging away. Next year will be it's 20th birthday. This stuff is built to last.

deleted 14y ago

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