One of East Lansing’s largest apartment management companies is wiring 13 of its complexes for the latest Internet technology.
DTN Management Co. is attempting to provide its residents with access to the Web by Ethernet.
The project has been under way for two years, and is costing the company more than $1.5 million.
DTN officials collaborated with East Lansing officials and the Michigan Department of Transportation for the project, which is tentatively set to be finished by the end of the fall.
Raji Uppal, director of technology for DTN, said DTN is also building Spartan Network, an upgradable fiber-optic network that will connect the DTN-wired properties at 1,000 megabytes per second. The network has a capability of speeds 400 to 500 times faster than other Internet providers.
“I’m a technology weenie,” he said. “We’re pushing the limits and this technology will be screaming.”
DTN is laying fiber-optic cables on telephone-utility poles surrounding the area of DTN managed properties. The fiber-optic cables will connect to a network based at University Villa, 635 Abbott Road.
Spartan Network will allow residents from each of the 13 complexes to share information available on their computers.
The network is faster than other Internet providers because most Internet connection data is transmitted through telephone poles, as opposed to fiber-optic cables.
Uppal said the technology is comparable to the Ethernet connection speeds provided by the MSU dormitories.
“The infrastructure was designed to meet student needs,” he said. “Our goal was to make the move from dorms to off-campus seamless.”
Each apartment wired to the service will contain at least three multimedia outlets - one in each bedroom and one in the living room.
The outlets will have five ports: two Ethernet and three telephone jacks. The networked apartments will also have a central box with a data module, telephone module and video module. The central box will allow DTN residents to network computers, share printers and video game systems with their roommates. Wiring in each apartment will cost DTN $1,000.
The service is not a mandatory requirement for DTN residents and DTN has not determined a monthly price for the service, but Uppal said that it will be significantly less than other Internet providers.
But some DTN residents are not happy with how long it has taken DTN to install the network.
“It is taking them forever to install the system,” said Brent Heraghty, a communication junior and Cedar Village resident. “Especially because of the quality that’s promised. I want to have it already.”
