Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) News

Blogging from WISPCON 9 / WISPCON 2007 - Part 2

Kevin Suitor of Redline Communications presented "The Road to WiMAX for License-Exempt WISPs" at WISPCON 2007.

Kevin gave a very informative presentation on the near-term evolution of both fixed (802.16 "D") and mobile (802.16 "E")... which was, unfortunately, nearly completely irrelevant to the assembled WISPs.

Short... no, terse summary:

Redline's outlook is that for US WISPs that use license-exempt spectrum, there is no usable implementation of WiMAX. Yes, there will be a Fixed (802.16 "D") implementation of WiMAX, but because it includes no measures for interference mitigation... it will perform poorly at best. Redline predicts this from the difficulties it has endured to date making WiMAX work in "clean" licensed spectrum.

Redline's voting with its corporate wallet. While it won't produce fixed WiMAX systems for license-exempt 5.8 GHz, it will produce 5.8 GHz systems for countries where 5.8 GHz is licensed, such as Russia. For license-exempt spectrum, its efforts will be primarily directed into its proprietary RedCONNEX product line.

Again, largely irrelevant to US WISPs using license-exempt spectrum, Redline feels that there is enormous promise in 700 MHz in the US after the "Upper 700 MHz auctions" due to be completed by January, 2008.

By Steve Stroh

This article is Copyright © 2007 by Steve Stroh

Wireless Tech Radio Is Back!

We - Stroh Publications LLC - announced at WISPCON that Wireless Tech Radio is back!. More information at Wireless Internet Service Provider News - WISPNews.

By Steve Stroh

This article is Copyright © 2007 by Steve Stroh

Alvarion Conspicuously Absent From WISPCON 2007

Given their stated renewed interest in the Wireless Internet Service Provider industry, Alvarion is curiously absent from WISPCON 2007. Three of their primary competitors - Redline Communications and Trango Broadband are exhibiting, and Airspan Networks has a representative present.

Granted, WISPCON 2007 is a small show... but it is 100% about Wireless Internet Service Providers.

By Steve Stroh

This article is Copyright © 2007 by Steve Stroh

Blogging from WISPCON 9 / WISPCON 2007 - Part 1

Kevin Suitor / Redline Communications Keynote Tuesday, February 21, 2007 - 08:00

Some key things learned from Katrina and past disasters:
* First responders often showed up with incompatible communications systems, so "infrastructure" like Broadband Wireless Internet Access communications needs to be flexible on how you allow them to plug in
* Response is usually late - need to stockpile equipment to be ready
* License-exempt ruled; no licensed; would have taken too long
* VOIP was 80% of IP communications traffic; voice is mission-critical
* Frequency Management was very important; interference impacted mission-critical voice
* Licensed links that are destroyed are often replaced in the short term with license-exempt links and since they're causing interference to established license-exempt links
* Mounting hardware was crucial... couldn't set up link, thus couldn't communicate without ability to mount the antenna
* Better to be conservative - when stocking, default to 2' (as opposed to 1') dishes and long cables. "Hastily Formed Network" is now well-recognized concept and terminology
* Regular exercises

"In any large-scale catastrophe, the first thing to go is communication. You have to plan for that." Dr. James Gregory

Resilience - The capacity to absorb shocks gracefully; difference from redundant which assumes individual component / system / link failure

When you construct Resilient or Redundant systems, you have to test them - UPS', backup files (tape), failover onto backup links Redline advocates WISPs selling business-grade links as "business continuity solution" - so your employees don't have downtime. When you factor in the productivity losses, a backup wireless link is a cheap investment Another opportunity is business sparing for servers; having servers staged at the ISP ready to help small businesses who have servers that go down or are destroyed due to disaster.

New opportunity - Storage Area Networking, IS applicable to WISPs.

Product Anouncement: AN-80i - FCC certified for operation in new 255 MHz of 5.4 GHz band, 9 Mbps - 90 Mbps upgradeable with software keys, 10/20/40 MHz cnannels, PMP is in beta, Power Over Ethernet (all outdoor), simple mounting - starts at under $2000 per end. Specifically designed to be a good match for Wi-Fi mesh systems. See full details in Press Release at www.bwiapressreleases.com/2007/02/redline_unveils.html

By Steve Stroh

This article is Copyright © 2007 by Steve Stroh