Kings Creek Station musters DP Computing for wireless network overhaul

MSP lessons in delivering remote connectivity at city standards while wrangling extreme conditions.

Kings Creek Station has partnered with DP Computing to overhaul wireless connectivity across the 2,200 square kilometre cattle station in the Northern Territory.

David Perkovic, DP Computing founder, said the project needed careful planning, a complex mix of technology to suit the landscape and experience in remote environments.

“Delivering reliable connectivity across such a large and remote property was an exciting challenge,” said Perkovic.

Wireless network to span vast distances

The property is not just large — it is extremely isolated. It’s five hours to Alice Springs so the station needs to be self-sufficient for power, water and accommodation. As a working station and tourist property, connectivity is vital for business.

However, the property was struggling with significant connectivity challenges, with limited Wi-Fi coverage and unreliable communications for both staff and visitors.

“Staff needed connectivity to stay in touch with family, and guests were writing reviews about the internet. Interstate managers wanted visibility,” Perkovic said.

Perkovic and senior network engineer Paul Pavel undertook a three-day field survey and then carefully planned the design for the new network. But the terrain created its own engineering challenges.

First, they had to find locations with both usable power and a clean line of sight. When it came to installation, radios and mounts needed to be unobtrusive and not sit on poles in the middle of a tourism and station operation

“Where we could hide or tuck equipment, we did. Where we could not, we chose the least disruptive mount that still kept the path,” he said.

The new network uses Ubiquiti UniFi solutions including point-to-point wireless bridges to span the vast geographical distances, supported by managed network switches and strategically placed wireless access points.

It needed to span three primary sites — the main camping and staff area, the corporate glamping retreat, and luxury accommodation. “They’re geographically separate, so we built three UniFi networks that are designed to work as one operational picture,” Perkovic explained.

Lessons for MSPs interested in work in remote locations

Regional and remote work is difficult, and will not suit all MSPs, according to Perkovic. Challenging environments, network requirements and customer expectations are

Perkovic explained that regional and remote operators now expect the same quality of network a city hotel or warehouse takes for granted — reliable Wi-Fi, failover internet, remote management and room to add cameras and voice later.

“The opportunity is to deliver that metro-grade outcome at a cost that still makes sense outside the CBD,” he told CRN Australia.

He stressed that providers must be willing to survey properly, design for heat and isolation, and stand behind the network afterwards. If they do, they’ll get two things in return: work that is technically interesting, and clients who notice.

“Country business communities talk. Do the job well and the next property, the next station, or the next tourism group already knows your name,” he said.

“The MSPs who treat regional Australia as a first-class design problem, not a discount version of a city install, will be the ones that own that work,” he added.