How Juneau Built a High-Density Managed Public Wi-Fi Network Without Expanding IT Staff
The City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) serves as Alaska’s capital city and a major cruise destination, welcoming thousands of visitors daily during peak tourism season. During summer months, the city’s downtown waterfront can see population surges of up to 16,000 additional visitors per day.
Historically, public connectivity in the downtown cruise corridor depended entirely on commercial cellular providers. However, seasonal density overwhelmed existing infrastructure, creating widespread service failures that impacted visitors, local businesses, and municipal operations.
As the City's reliance on technology increased, so did the need for greater visibility, documentation, and ongoing oversight, reinforcing the need for continuous network management.
To address these challenges, CBJ partnered with Northriver IT Services (NRIT) to design, deploy, and operate a purpose-built public Wi-Fi network powered by Cambium Networks.
NRIT would like to thank the following partners that made this effort possible:
-
and several departments from CBJ!
Business Challenge
Severe Cellular Congestion
For years, CBJ experienced unreliable cellular performance in the downtown cruise ship zone during peak season.
“There was no cell phone signal or really spotty slow cell signal when the ships were in dock during summer tourism season.” Chris Murray, IT Director CBJ
The impact extended well beyond inconvenience:
-
Point-of-sale systems failed
-
Parking kiosks stopped functioning
-
Basic voice calls would not connect
-
City services had to redesign projects to avoid cellular reliance
In one example, parking registration machines that worked in winter failed entirely in summer due to cellular overload. The downtown library became an unintended Wi-Fi hub, drawing large crowds outdoors to access connectivity — creating safety concerns and highlighting the lack of systematic coverage.
Lack of Carrier Engagement
CBJ formally contacted major telecom providers requesting infrastructure improvements but received no actionable response. The city ultimately concluded that it needed to take control of the solution.
A Fully Managed Model
Rather than building and operating the network internally, CBJ chose a complete managed services model. CBJ chose a hands-off deployment model, implementing a public Wi-Fi network that operates independently from city systems. Delivered as a managed service, the solution ensures consistent performance while eliminating additional workload for municipal IT personnel. This model ensured:
-
Clear operational separation from municipal IT
-
Dedicated funding alignment
-
No additional staffing requirements
-
Predictable service performance
-
The bandwidth, backhaul, and Wi-Fi were all intentionally separate of the city IT infrastructure.
Chris Murray emphasized that the city’s technical staff did not want additional operational burden or ladder work added to their responsibilities. The managed services structure eliminated that risk entirely.
Technology Solution
NRIT designed a resilient, high-capacity outdoor Wi-Fi architecture leveraging Cambium Networks’ ONE Network platform. Cambium Products deployed included: cnWave™ 60 GHz Fixed Wireless Backhaul (PTP and mesh architecture), outdoor High-Density Wi-Fi 6 Access Points (XE3-4TN), cnMaestro™ Cloud Management Platform, LINKPlanner™ Network Design Software.
