OneNet Completes 400G Network Upgrade, Creating a Path to 800G and Beyond

OneNet put the final touches on our 400G network upgrade—deployed in phases throughout 2025 and spring 2026—to deliver higher bandwidth, more reliable connectivity for OneNet subscribers across Oklahoma.

As part of the final design phase, OneNet engineers and technicians deployed new equipment to 48 hubsites, expanding our capacity to move traffic throughout the state and helping subscribers stay connected, whether they’re teaching, learning, delivering care or supporting essential services.

“We have significantly increased capacity from 10G to 400G in most locations, boosting bandwidth and reducing traffic latency, so our subscribers see better performance as network demand continues to grow,” Senior Network Architect Drew Graham said.

The project included upgrading OneNet’s 100G connectivity to Dallas to 400G, strengthening our capacity to move traffic out of the state and improving the paths our subscribers use every day to reach cloud services, applications and partners. The upgrade also supports 400G connectivity to the Great Plains Network, and in turn, Internet2, the nationwide 400G research and education network.

“This will allow us to continue investing in peering opportunities that enhance the connectivity for OneNet’s subscribers,” Graham said. “These connections give our subscribers access to the rest of the world.”

Research Connectivity

One of the project’s goals was to increase network capacity for research traffic, enabling researchers at higher education institutions to participate in global research projects without network constraints.

“This upgrade adds the required capacity to our network backbone to ensure we have the bandwidth not just for campus connectivity but for researchers who need to transfer large datasets both across OneNet and to other peer institutions via Great Plains Network, Internet2, ESnet, and others,” Graham said.

Rural Connectivity

The upgrade also increases capacity for OneNet’s rural subscribers, supporting dependable connectivity for K-12 schools, libraries, career technology centers, hospitals, medical clinics and government agencies in smaller communities.

“Our new 400G backbone extends to Woodward in the northwest part of the state, to Durant in the southeast, and many other communities across the Oklahoma Community Anchor Network,” Graham said. “This upgrade helps us meet the ever-increasing bandwidth needs of rural schools and libraries driven by the increased use of technology and internet-based learning resources.”

Future Connectivity

While this upgrade advances most of our network to 400G, it also prepares OneNet to meet our subscribers’ future connectivity requirements.

“When we selected new equipment, one goal was to create an easy upgrade path for 800G and beyond,” Graham said. “Our new core routers in Oklahoma City and Tulsa are currently 800G capable and have an overall throughput of 6Tbps. Many of the other routers at the higher education institutions will be able to support 800G.”

Graham, who oversaw the design and development of the upgrade, helped ensure our engineering team went the extra mile to build a backbone that supports subscribers now—and is ready for what’s next.

“With the lessons learned from our 400G deployment, it should make the jump to 800G and beyond a lot simpler,” he said.

Read about the other phases of the network upgrade:

• Phase One: Great Plains Network & Internet2
• Phase Two: Research Universities
• Phase Three: Hubsite Connectivity

This project may include content that was generated in part with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) tools.