Case Study: Two-Way Radio Connectivity with Bigleaf Networks
Thanks to our partners at Bigleaf Networks for the following overview of how we ensure a resilient two-way radio network for customers across the West, including radio users in Spokane, Seattle, Tacoma, Puget Sound, Vancouver, Portland, Eugene-Springfield, Roseburg, Grants Pass, Salem, Antioch, San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley, Fortuna, Monterey-Salinas, Sacramento and nearly everywhere in between.
For over 60 years, Silke Communications has delivered two-way radio communications to organizations across the Western United States. From school districts and transportation fleets to ambulance services and public safety agencies, Silke supports customers whose operations (and safety) depend on reliable, always-available communication.
From its start in Eugene, Oregon, Silke Communications has grown into a multi-state operation supported by nearly 100 radio tower sites, many located on mountaintops, remote ridgelines, and rugged terrain where traditional wired connectivity is unavailable or unreliable. These towers work together as a single, interconnected system, allowing users from school districts and public safety agencies to transportation fleets and ambulance services, to maintain seamless push-to-talk communication as they move across large geographic regions.
But as the network expanded, so did the risks.
A Single Connectivity Failure Can Isolate an Entire Tower
Mike Sadlowski, CTO at Silke Communications, has overseen the design and operation of the company’s radio network since 2012. He understands the stakes clearly: if a single tower loses its backhaul connection, radios routed through that site can become isolated, cutting off communication to drivers, dispatchers, and first responders.
“When you’re supporting emergency services, buses, or remote workers,” Sadlowski explained, “downtime isn’t an inconvenience. It’s catastrophic.”
Silke faced several persistent challenges as the network grew:
Limited or unreliable connectivity options at remote tower sites. Many locations had only one viable ISP, inconsistent service quality, or no static IP availability.
Extreme sensitivity to latency and packet loss. While voice traffic is low bandwidth, it is highly time-sensitive; minor disruptions can severely degrade audio quality.
Difficult and sometimes hazardous site access. Reaching certain towers requires hours of travel and can be dangerous during seasonal weather conditions.
High expectations from mission-critical customers. Public safety partners, in particular, leave no margin for error.
Without a way to intelligently manage performance across unpredictable circuits, Silke risked outages, emergency support escalations, and service failures that could put communities at risk.
To protect the growing network, they turned to Bigleaf.
Intelligent, Resilient Connectivity for Every Tower
Bigleaf delivered the capabilities Silke needed most:
Redundancy Across Any Available Circuit: Silke combines fiber, fixed wireless, LTE/5G, and Starlink at tower sites where available, without dependence on any single carrier. When static (public routable) IPs are unavailable from carriers, Bigleaf IP blocks provide the flexibility required for stable routing and network operations.
Real-Time Optimization for Voice Traffic: Bigleaf continuously measures latency, jitter, and packet loss across all active circuits and routes traffic over the best available path. When conditions degrade, traffic shifts automatically and seamlessly, maintaining clear, uninterrupted audio for Silke’s UDP-based voice communications.
Remote Visibility and Diagnostics: With Bigleaf’s real-time performance data, Silke’s team can quickly identify circuit degradation, isolate issues, and resolve problems remotely, reducing the need for costly, time-consuming, and sometimes dangerous site visits.
“It’s given us true sleep-at-night capability,” said Sadlowski. “Your solution finds the best route from point A to point B—and that’s not on me anymore.”
Reliable Communication, Even in the Most Remote Environments
With Bigleaf in place, Silke has strengthened the resilience of its entire radio network, ensuring consistent, reliable communication for mission-critical customers across challenging terrain.
Latency-sensitive voice traffic remains clear and stable, even when individual circuits fluctuate. Tower outages no longer cascade into communication failures. And with greater visibility into network performance, Silke can operate more efficiently without increasing operational risk.
Most importantly, Bigleaf gives Sadlowski and his team confidence that their network can withstand unpredictable ISP behavior, environmental challenges, and connectivity interruptions, so Silke’s customers stay connected when it matters most.