Port Everglades Cruise Terminal Wi-Fi Project

About the Program

Category: Information Technology (Best in Category)

Year: 2015

Port Everglades, a department of Broward County government, is one of the busiest cruise ports in the world. Located in the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood, Florida area, Port Everglades is the home port for over 43 cruise ships with more than 3.6 million passengers passing through its facilities annually. In addition to being an economic powerhouse for international trade, this diverse seaport includes a thriving cruise industry with a reputation as the "world's best cruise port”. During their busiest cruise season, November through April, Port Everglades often hosts over 50,000 passengers passing through its nine cruise terminals during a single weekend. Port Everglades Wi-Fi infrastructure was not optimized for the delivery of reliable wireless services to such highly concentrated groups of passengers wanting to use the latest wireless smart devices. Port Everglades, in collaboration with Broward County’s Enterprise Technology Services (ETS) Division, built a new, robust wireless network, easy-to-use and manage, and with the capacity to accommodate the volume and complexity of smart devices at all passenger cruise terminals. The wireless solution supports a mixed-device environment such as legacy 802.11ag, 802.11n, and the latest 802.11ac technology. The project was completed ahead of schedule by two months and under budget by $20,000. As a result of this open-air wireless solution, passengers and employees can now enjoy a complete all-inclusive multimedia mobile experience that is as good, if not better than their experience with their wireless carriers. Passengers can watch videos, socialize with family and friends using social media applications, and place video calls worldwide using mobile devices while in the terminals. The robust Wi-Fi services also helped Port Everglades’ staff increase its efficiency. For example, County building inspectors, Public Works employees, and other County field workers can connect over Wi-Fi instead of using a carrier provided cellular network, thus lowering communications costs.