Case Study: City of Thomasville achieves reliable, high-density Wi‑Fi for downtown tourism and the Sunbelt Expo with RUCKUS Networks

Wi-Fi Boosts Tourism and Commerce from City Center to Agriculture Expo

The City of Thomasville, Georgia, and the Sunbelt Ag Expo were struggling with slow, unreliable guest Wi‑Fi that frustrated visitors, vendors and event organizers. Thomasville’s downtown mobile app and seasonal events (like the Rose Festival and Victorian Christmas) suffered from dropped connections, and the Sunbelt Expo’s 100‑acre site faced severe interference and high‑density load problems that once forced vendors to accept cash only.

The city worked with NTS to replace legacy gear with Ruckus—28 indoor/outdoor APs and a Virtual SmartZone for Thomasville, and 25 APs with a ZoneDirector for the Expo—delivering stronger coverage, higher throughput and fewer APs per floor. The upgrade improved outdoor and event connectivity, added granular security (separate SSIDs, VLANs and AD‑integrated captive portal), enabled new exhibitor services and revenue opportunities, and produced an immediate ROI with plans to expand coverage further.

City of Thomasville

Clint Wilkerson

Director of IT