Skiing, Slopes, and Seamless Networks: NETGEAR supports Appalachian Ski Mtn.
Written By:
NETGEAR Enterprise
Summary
Whether gliding down a glistening white slope, browsing some skis or a snowboard to purchase or rent, or enjoying some well-earned apres-ski, visitors to Appalachian Ski Mtn. can expect a wonderful day out. Behind the scenes, all kinds of factors and attention to detail go into creating a unique experience, including the critical contribution of network technology supplied and supported by local specialist Terabyte Computers. In recent times, this includes increasing use of networking equipment from NETGEAR Business, with a reliable performance that helps to ensure the seamless operation of the resort, indoors and outdoors.
Background:
Since its roots back in the early 1960s, Appalachian Ski Mtn. has welcomed visitors during the ski season every year, with over one million people having learned to ski or snowboard on its slopes. The first ski area in Northwestern North Carolina and the second oldest in the state, Appalachian Ski Mtn. has expanded over the decades and today comprises 13 slopes, with a base lodge that covers over 46,000 square feet.
One of the region’s premier leisure and sports destinations, Appalachian Ski Mtn. aims to give visitors as rich and enjoyable an experience as possible, which is increasingly supported by technology. For instance, 40 public kiosks enable customers to digitally enter their information — such as height, weight, personal characteristics, and preferences — and that data is instantly relayed to 29 equipment and clothing rental stations (23 for skis, boards and boots, and six for clothing), saving time when issuing and returning equipment, as well as reducing the risk of errors and omissions. The resort also uses RFID cards issued via QR codes to make it easier for guests to pull up their orders, make changes, as well as allowing access to the slopes and terrain parks.
The Challenge
The entire site also depends on network connectivity for the smooth running of back-office processes, the visitor restaurant, the guest dining areas, the administration office and safety cameras. So, even before the resort opens its gates to visitors each morning, there will typically already be several hundred devices connected to the network, indoors and out. Furthermore, Appalachian Ski Mtn. was one of the earliest adopters of guest WiFi, a smart move given that, these days, it may welcome at least 1,700 WiFi users during peak holidays.
Based in nearby Boone, Terabyte Computers specializes in providing organizations of all types and sizes with a complete, end-to-end service, from recommendations and design to installation and maintenance. For over two decades, Terabyte’s President, Brian Bergin has supported the Appalachian Ski Mtn.’s IT and comms needs, which have expanded and changed in tandem with the resort’s own evolution.
On any given day, one of Terabyte Computers’ top priorities is to ensure that the entire networking set-up is working well, so when the venue started to experience a few technical issues with the existing network access points, Brian was on the case immediately. However, when those issues continued — together with the fact that the previous equipment vendor could not provide a consistent solution — it was clear it was time to consider alternatives. Brian, who was aware of NETGEAR Business, started to experiment with its network access points and was soon impressed by what he found.
The answer
“The NETGEAR Business access points are terrific. Customers don’t experience any issues with them, and the fast roaming works really well. People can roam around the site and the signal is not going to drop,” he reports. “Back in 2018, we started with some NETGEAR WAC540s, and we still have many of those still in use because they still work fine, especially in lower traffic areas.” Since then, Brian has added several dozen other more recent models of NETGEAR’s access points across the site, with uses ranging from guest WiFi to outdoor APs for ski patrol and management, where they have performed well despite some extreme weather conditions.
“We’ve had temperatures of ten below zero, and we’ve not had a single outdoor access point fail. While they are mounted safely below the roof soffits, when snow is being made, it doesn’t make a difference: it gets everywhere, even inside the huts. Yet, we’ve had no issues with those access points.”
Network switches are used to connect the access points and other systems, such as safety cameras. Following his initial experience with NETGEAR Business, Brian is progressively replacing many of the legacy network switches with NETGEAR models. “The NETGEAR switches are powering all the access points and cameras outside, as well as the lodge, and since being installed, haven’t blinked, even during busy times such as Christmas, Martin Luther King or President’s Weekend. The speeds are beautiful, and the reliability is great.”
Both the network access points and switches are monitored and controlled by Insight, NETGEAR’s cloud-based network management portal, including installation, configuration and troubleshooting features. However, even the best-planned and managed network may experience issues, which is why NETGEAR support has also been important to Brian. “I ran into a problem where I could not give clients access to a specific IP address on the network via Insight with client-isolation enabled, so I contacted the NETGEAR Pro WiFi team, and a few hours later, we got an email back to say it had been fixed.”
“When there are 1,700 or 1,800 people using the network and it doesn’t blink, that speaks volumes about the durability and robustness of this equipment, especially for what it costs: I haven’t found anything that comes even close. I don’t have any issues with them and have found NETGEAR's reliability to be exceptional.”
So, while visitors are enjoying their time at Appalachian Ski Mtn., both they and the team responsible for day-to-day operations can be assured that — whatever the weather or however busy — NETGEAR Business network equipment, together with Brian’s expertise, will help make sure the experience at the resort does not veer ‘off piste’.
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