JS Tech’s founder first became aware of the Lycée Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable school in Haiti in 2014, while developing an iPad application for distance learning among students. One of the school’s founders volunteered to test the app, but was met with a pretty big obstacle: the school had no internet connection.

On an exploratory mission in February 2015, engineers discovered that internet service provider Digitel had created a rudimentary campus network that had fallen into disrepair. Nearly all of the repeaters placed by the ISP were non-functional, so most of the 30+ acre campus went without wifi.

Without wifi, students were falling into the digital divide; they couldn’t access information, educational applications, or even a means to connect with others.
For the staff, internet access meant something else. Nearly 50% of the school’s teachers are expats; wifi was vital for staying in contact with family and friends in other countries. If the school wanted to attract top talent, they needed to ensure that teachers would have reliable IT.

Massive equipment and time donations made it possible to construct a sustainable data network at the school. Point-to-point radios from Ubiquiti Networks, pre-terminated fiber cables, and CAT5e ethernet created a resilient network to deliver high-speed internet access to the campus’s 22 buildings. Vendors such as Tripp-Lite, Sophos, and Zyxel donated various networking equipment and software to the project. A team of industry volunteers came together to offer time and labor.

Not only did this team build a reliable data network, they continue to return to the school to maintain it. The network supports a variety of pedagogical applications, including smart boards, distance learning, and electronic labs. The young students are better connected to their world, and benefit from global lessons and influence.

The Lycée Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable school now has the capabilities required to educate the students of Haiti. The digital divide is a big part of education inequality. When students don’t have access to the internet, they lose access to information, applications, and connection. With reliable wifi, students have gained a leg up in receiving an equitable education.

The Story of The  Infatuation

The Infatuation is an all-in-one website, app, newsletter, and recommendation platform. Designed to give individuals the most honest and trustworthy reviews on food, they send highly-skilled editors and writers to try all sorts of restaurants around the world. Their methodology is to show up unannounced, compensate for the experience themselves, and always call it like they see it.

Founded over a decade ago, the Infatuation has fostered tremendous growth while continuing to give back to the people of NYC and abroad. In 2018, they acquired Zagat, the restaurant review brand from Google–Talk about iconic! The Infatuation has quickly established itself to be one of the most influential, powerful, and useful restaurant discovery platforms out there.

The Infatuation needed a change. Their aging hardware was leading to huge gaps in connectivity. Spectrum was the only broadband provider available, and their alternative solutions were not looking great either: “Do we work out of Starbucks for the day or run to AT&T to buy six hotspots?” These temporary solutions were just not enough, and the business could not hold out much longer.

The Infatuation needed a solid plan, so they reached out to JS Tech to create one for them. Rather than running dark fiber from the street, which would take 90 days or more, the best option was to deliver wireless internet from the rooftop. Time was of the essence to replace the Spectrum connection; just one day after the contract was signed, the Infatuation had an installation team on-site to survey the area. With JS Tech’s direction, the Infatuation saw a full installation within two weeks, a feat that would have taken months with fiber.

The Infatuation now reaps the benefits of an ultra high-speed and low-latency connection at a great price. The company no longer has to fret about how to meet deadlines when they can’t get online because JS Tech guarantees flawless internet 99.99% of the time.

All that the Infatuation needed was a partner that would look out for them. These new and seamless connections propelled their productivity and workflow towards great success.