Case Study: Aquinas College achieves redundant, high-bandwidth connectivity and lower costs with US Signal Direct Fiber Access

US Signal Direct Fiber Access Provides Needed Redundancy and Bandwidth to College

Aquinas College, a liberal arts institution in Grand Rapids serving roughly 2,100 students, was struggling with increasing demand for campus internet as students and their devices multiplied, and faced high costs to increase bandwidth over a leased third‑party fiber connection. The college engaged US Signal, moving from leased Ethernet service (100 → 200 Mb) to US Signal Direct Fiber to solve capacity and redundancy challenges.

US Signal built a geographically diverse Direct Fiber connection (400 Mb) while maintaining a second carrier for a multi‑homed, dual‑ISP setup. The upgrade doubled available bandwidth, cut the college’s monthly bill in half, delivered fully redundant campus connectivity and built‑in disaster recovery, and produced highly reliable service (only two brief incidents totaling under 30 minutes over four years), positioning Aquinas to support more online courses and future growth.

Aquinas College