Out of all of the network redesigns I have done, I'd consider this one to be the largest and the most sophisticated network. I'll break it in to two parts: How it was around August 2019, and how it currently is. Like all networks that I have done work on, this one was built to work, not built to last or for troubleshooting when something went wrong.

Another member from the fire company and I planned a new network, including 5 wireless access points in a mesh configuration for constant wireless coverage throughout the building. Due to the building being over 100 years old with many additions, there were many dead zones throughout the building that we quickly remediated. We designed the network to be managed via a system controller, which provides a central point of monitoring and configuration of the main routing and wireless equipment. On the wired side, we went with a 48 port Cisco switch to power the wireless access points. Yes, it's overkill, but it provided the space for upgrades down the line. Speaking of upgrades, in June 2020, a friend, Jared, and I decided to implement an IP phone system to replace the outdated Nortel system. Not only did this provide a nice technological advancement, but it provided a safety improvement to the building. Previously, there were only two phones that were able to dial out to the main PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network). By upgrading to a new IP phone system, we were able to configure it to where any phone can dial out. In an emergency situation, this would be critical should someone use the "house phone" rather than their cell phone. Also, it's simply the law. Remember that PoE switch we talked about? Well, here's where it came in handy. Another one of our members was able to retrieve some old 7962 series IP phones that we were able to utilize throughout the building. Jared and I ran Ethernet lines to various devices while installing this phone system, then another one of my friends, Nate, helped me out by running the rest of the lines throughout the building. So far, we're up to about 50 lines ran throughout the building for various purposes. After we installed the new phones, we needed a server to run the Cisco Unified Communications Manager and Cisco Unity Connection operating systems off of. Jared helped pick out a nice HP DL360 server that we installed VMware ESXi on. Once we had all the host issues worked out, we were able to install the unrestricted versions of the phone operating systems. Communications Manager was needed for the phones to register to, and Unity Connection is the VoiceMail aspect of the system. We were able to get those up and running and in the process decided to install Windows Server 2019 to domain-join all of the computers in the building. We also installed various roles such as DHCP and DNS, so our main router didn't need to do that. A year later (with many Ethernet lines run in the mean time thanks to the help of Nate), the department installed TVs in the banquet hall upstairs. Nate and I ran more Ethernet cables to all the TVs and we installed HDMI over Ethernet signal converters, rather than running expensive HDMI cables. We also convinced the department to purchase an Extron DXP Matrix Switcher (a little old but still does what we need it to do) which allows us to select what video source should be on what display. We also purchased an Extron TLP 1000TV and IPL 250, to provide simpler operations of the AV system. Our mindset behind this whole project was simple; if it has an Ethernet port, it'll be on the network.