Employees with BEI Networks.
When Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in late September, residents not only struggled with food, water, shelter and transportation, but also communicating with the outside world and reaching loved ones to let them know they were alive and what they needed.
BEI Networks, a Bedford-based IT company, decided it could help with the latter issue. With the help of one of its partner companies, Extreme Networks in Salem, BEI has undertaken a mission to help expand the University of Puerto Rico’s wi-fi network.
BEI’s CEO Kris Bruno and Kevan Akers, the firm’s sports and technology executive, went to Puerto Rico in November for five days to provide training while Extreme Networks donated equipment. Bruno and Akers took to social media and Facebook groups to reach out to communities in Puerto Rico to inform them of their idea, eventually connecting with the Puerto Rico Science, Technology & Research Trust, which put the company in touch with the University of Puerto Rico (UPR). “The communications were so difficult. They were dealing with their own infrastructure and recovery,” Bruno says.
One of the first things that Bruno and Akers noticed when they arrived on the island was residents were lined up and pulled over on the freeway trying to get a cell signal. Some residents were able to access the internet through the college campuses. When Bruno spoke with residents across Puerto Rico, they echoed similar sentiments. They wanted to be heard, and they didn’t want to be forgotten. “They needed someone to talk to, so we listened,” says Bruno.
BEI wanted to extend communication beyond the college campuses. “We’re creating a separate wi-fi network,” Akers says. The company also offered to tweak and update the University of Puerto Rico’s existing network.
During the five days, the BEI team met with IT officials at the University of San Juan and Mayaguez campuses and trained university staff on the deployment of the Extreme Networks Access Points and provided an overview of ExtremeCloud. The university was then able to extend its internet network using microwave point-to-point technology to provide wi-fi access to town centers in communities near the campuses.
In addition, “the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez staff was able to install an access point on Isla Maguelles, a research facility just south of Mayaguez where surrounding residents currently have no utilities or communications,” the BEI team wrote on a blog chronicling their project.
The network extension is still a work in progress. “The idea was not to just deliver the gear, train them, and leave,” says Bruno. “We’re already committed throughout 2018 to be there, both remotely and we plan on going back. We didn’t want to be a part of the problem there, we wanted to be a part of the solution.”
The company planned to return to Puerto Rico in late January with more team members to help complete the project. For more information, visit beinet.com.
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