siriusadult i am sorry i have taken so long to anwer your question but things have been very busy. So here is what i can tell you.
Pervious to TKO we had wireless and some Cat-5 that gave us network connections. Because of our operational environment, the wireless was really inadequate for security and distanced connectivity (large building). It would have required multiple wireless extenders etc. and with our use of refurbished or non-wireless desktop machines, the expense per workstation was going to grow to get them all on the net. Getting all users to the WAN connection and keeping the LAN traffic off the overall net was going to require an investment in switches and routers, which also carries the need for some kind of quasi IS group/person (more expense).
The advent of TKO solved all our problems of LAN traffic and WAN accessible connectivity. We can setup a lab in a room with a couple of ibridges and some switches if necessary and have isolation control over that LAN. Since we can manage the ibridge, we can keep that traffic local or allow WAN connectivity to suit our operational needs. Additionally, all the Cat-5 that was run some years ago would require some routers and switches because of distance. With TKO, we just put the ibridges where we want and connect whoever needs it. If they have a laptop, they can move anywhere in the building and just bring their ibridge for connectivity. We have places in our building that would NEVER have a normal LAN connection, but because of the versatility of TKO, we can connect from anywhere in a 75,000 square foot building.
We really haven't had any sort of issues with the equipment at all. The system works fine once it is installed and makes it pretty simple for folks that are not computer savvy. Virtually all PCs have an Ethernet port, so requirements are not really necessary for wireless devices. This has simplified our life operationally.
We have a person on staff that can mange the TKO equipment with minimal time and effort as compared to traditional network connectivity devices and if we desired or needed to, we could have TKO manage it through secure connection over the internet.
Hope this helps.
