SAILOR Wireless Project

Wireless Project

The Sailor Operations Center is continually engaged in identifying opportunities to improve the speed, quality and cost effectiveness of the Sailor Network.

Our investigations into improvements for the Eastern Shore portion of the Sailor Network resulted in a project to install a wireless backbone on the Shore. Planning for this project began in 2000. Information sharing with public entities that would become our partners, such as county and municipal governments, public school systems, and police departments, began in 2001. Pre-installation coordination with our partners began in 2003. Installation began in December 2003.

Wireless is a wonderful option for areas such as the Eastern Shore, where leased telecommunications options are historically fewer and more expensive than the options in the large metropolitan areas. Using wireless we are improving the level of service to Shore counties at a cost for which there is no competitive commercial option. The wireless backbone we are installing will be faster than our leased lines on the Shore, and more reliable because it features multiple alternative routes for network traffic in the event a county’s primary route is interrupted.

The Sailor Eastern Shore wireless backbone is based on a point-to-point ring architecture, employing radio frequencies licensed for Sailor’s exclusive use from the Federal Communications Commission. By using licensed radio frequencies we maximize reliability by avoiding interference with other networks. Radios we are presently using are rated up to 100Mbps. When complete, the Sailor Eastern Shore Wireless Network will consist of more than twenty nodes. This website tracks implementation status.

Questions about Sailor Network projects may be addressed to:

Stuart Ragland
Sailor Project Manager
or
Michael Walsh
Manager, Sailor Network Operations

Sailor Operations Center
Enoch Pratt Free Library
400 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201