Spring ISPCON 2001 Fixed Wireless News

Fixed wireless equipment makers showed up en masse in Baltimore to tout new products and alliances to the crowds at ISPCON.

by Patricia Fusco ISP-Planet Managing Editor [April 5, 2001]

While Wi-LAN, Inc. waits to complete its acquisition of UC Wireless (formerly Utilicom), there's plenty of other wireless communication companies connecting with the Internet service providers (ISPs) attending Spring ISPCON in Baltimore.

The deal is set to close on April 10, and Wi-LAN is at the tradeshow pitching UC Wireless' established portfolio of wireless wide area network (WAN) products, which complements Wi-Lan's 900 MHz, 2.4GHz, and 5.8GHz license-exempt gear.

Of particular interest is UC Wireless' patented Versatile Intelligent Network Environment (VINE) technology, which is a hybrid between point-to-point and mesh network topologies facilitating fixed wireless network deployment, one node at a time. UC Wireless' WIN Router 2411 beats at the heart of the technology as it's capable of being configured as an Ethernet bride or an IP router.

The WIN Router 2411 spread spectrum transceivers provide an off-the-shelf solution for most wireless network applications and the spread spectrum technology allows ISPs to quickly deploy fixed wireless broadband networks without the need of a license or a call to an incumbent carrier.

The WIN Router 2411 uses direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) technology with variable data rates of 1, 2, 5,5 ir 11 Mbps. It's UC Wireless' VINE technology that adaptively sets the data rate, transmit power and other parameters for each individual link on a packet-by-packet basis. If interference weakens the signal, the software automatically dials down to a lower speed in order to maintain an error free connection.

Pricing and availability is available from UC Wireless U.S. sales offices.

Wave Wireless extends penetration
Wave Wireless Networking contends that 802.11b should stay indoors, but it's not, so in the meantime the Sarasota FL-based fixed wireless equipment maker will continue to work with Internet Service Providers to supply the gear they demand.

The company, a SPEEDCOM Wireless Corp. division, debuted its PacketHopping technology last month, so if you haven't heard about its SPEEDLAN PH9000 series, now would be a good time to take note of the non-line-of-sight (NLOS) direct sequence system.

Patrick Pacifico, Wave Wireless vice president of marketing and product management, explained that not only is line-of-sight a non-issue with a SPEEDLAN PH9000 customer premise equipment (CPE) setup; its self-healing systems keeps it that way.

"Rather than needing to keep an eye on a Wireless Internet Service Provider's (WISP) base station, the SPEEDLAN PH9000 only needs to be aware of the next nearest node," Pacifico said. "So a short building with LOS problems that stands behind a tall building already connected to a WISP using the Wave Wireless gear only has to see the tall building—not the WISP base station."

Wave Wireless's PacketHopping technology fills in the blind spots, which allows WISPs to make the most of its fixed wireless footprint. For example, most WISPs understand that their best-case scenario for market penetration averages about 20 percent. Wave Wireless PacketHopping technology allows WISPs to provide broadband access to the other 80 percent of its service area.

But the system doesn't stop there, because each PH9000 setup is not only aware of which node is nearest, it knows a secondary node it can connect with should interference with the first node arise. That's how the Wave Wireless gear is capable of self-healing a fixed wireless connection to a WISP base station.

WISPs currently using Wave Wireless PH8000 series gear need not fret, the SPEEDLAN PH8000 series will simply overlay with the new PH9000 goods enabling networks to reach nearly all subscribers in a WISPs footprint, which maximizes the revenue-generating capabilities of the network.

Average CPE setups run around $1,500 for the PH9000 series and units are available to ship now.

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