Netgear to supply equipment to Norfolk Island

Netgear’s modem routers have been chosen by Norfolk Telecom to provide Norfolk Island with stable Internet access.

Norfolk Telecom, wholly owned and managed by the Government of Norfolk Island, provides users with modems to enable them to access its ADSL network.

After carrying out extensive tests, the service provider decided to move across to the Netgear products for an unnamed supplier.

Norfolk Telecom is now using a selection of NETGEAR’s modem routers – the DG632, DG834 and DG834G – as its standard lease routers, enabling it to provide users up to 5km away with Internet access.

Stuart Robertson, chief technical officer for the Administration of Norfolk Island believed the products were robust and simple so inexperienced personnel could manage the setup process.

“Our telecoms technicians, whose skill base is not IT-focused, are able to setup and install the products very easily and we’ve barely had to use the manuals,” he explains.

He said the size and location of the island – only 8km by 5km surrounded by a wide expanse of ocean – causes a range of issues when it comes to IT infrastructure.

“The level of corrosion you see in the systems here is beyond anything I’ve seen elsewhere. Couple this with the high humidity and you’re looking at a pretty dismal environment for IT hardware - it’s like trying to run your servers from a yacht.”

The isolated location of Norfolk Island means Norfolk Telecom has to modify elements of its network to suit the environment, which would be much harder without solid and adaptable products.

Robertson said: “Our attitude is to have a go regardless and often we find we can get services operational when technically they shouldn’t work.”