Thursday, May 27, 2010
In our nation's largest city, it is no surprise to find that AT&T has been battling with an overwhelmed network. The increased popularity of 3G-enabled wireless devices has finally pushed their infrastructure to the limit. The AT&T cell towers in New York city face problems ahead if they cannot keep up with 3G demand.

So, what's the answer? Get the users to stop relying on 3G. To reduce the load on the cell towers in and around the city, AT&T plans to offer free wireless hot-spots where AT&T customers can get Wi-Fi at no charge rather than relying on the standard data network.

To pilot the program, seeing what real affect it will have on network load, the first free wireless hot-spot has been set up and is now live in Time Square. For a range of 2000 feet from the city's famed landmark, AT&T customers can enjoy Wi-Fi speeds--even faster than 3G--at no extra charge.

So, will it work? I have my doubts for one simple, and seemingly insignificant reason. Laziness...

As an avid iPhone user, I am prompted constantly to join networks. In the city, there are dozens of wireless networks available to join at any given point. The problem is, historically, these have all been security-enabled networks. So, while I'm on the go and in a hurry, I rarely bother to sort through the networks available to find a free one, after all, why bother? The 3G works just fine.

So, the challenge for AT&T is going to be making it as easy as possible for its customers to connect to this new Wi-Fi network instead of the already-available 3G. My suggestion: create a unique name for the network, then push an OS update that automatically switches to the AT&T-provided wi-fi if it's available without the user having to do anything.

What do you think? Any New Yorkers out there excited for this new offer, or do you fear it will never gain popularity?

Labels: 3G, ATT, Hotspot, iPhone, New York, Wi-Fi

posted by Unknown at 4:12 AM Link to this Article  0 Comments

Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Last Friday, a team of utility workers in Madison, Wisconsin started their day with a simple job: patch up some paint on the water tower. In fact, even the excitement of an unexpected fire breaking out seemed relatively inconsequential once it was extinguished. That is until they discovered the fire had destroyed a fixed wireless antenna and a cluster of fiber cables leading to it.

A local t-com company serves customers in the area--both business and residential--with a fixed wireless broadband solution. The end-users, undoubtedly, enjoy the same wireless local loop perks that Accel Networks offers. But that local loop went down last Friday... and, according to Channel 3 News, is still down today. Five days of no broadband: could your business survive?

This highlights two key questions you must ask yourself when weighing the benefits of a fixed wireless broadband option for your business location:

1. Is it redundant? That means, is my connectivity dependent solely on one local antenna that my local broadband company supports, or do I enjoy the vast grid from major carriers like AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint?
2. Is it redundant? Yes, I know, I'm being redundant. But the second factor to redundancy is the ability to provision a totally separate backup network with a distinct route to the network--presumably a second carrier altogether.

The ability to offer the first redundancy described is a must-have for any viable wireless broadband solution. Dependency on a local ISP can mean huge risks for broadband-dependent businesses, as the Madison-area customers are now discovering. The ubiquitous coverage provided by major carriers, especially in urban areas, is a resource worthy of tapping into.

Second, however, the back-up system in the unlikely event of a carrier failure is just as important. No matter how much more reliable major carriers are than local ISP's, tragedy can still strike. Solutions like Accel's Gemini product offer truly diverse paths to the network, which means if you primary goes down, the backup will likely not be affected by the same outage.

Imagine yourself in the shoes of the business owners in the affected area of Madison. Do you have the redundancy to survive? If not, don't wait for tragedy to strike. Be prepared. Be redundant.

Labels: backup network, Fixed Wireless Broadband, ISP

posted by Unknown at 8:21 AM Link to this Article  0 Comments

Wednesday, May 12, 2010
As the FCC continues to research (and study, and research, and study, and research some more) about how to best implement their Broadband Plan, one interesting nugget rises to the top. Cost has been one major concern in the push to bring broadband to unserved areas of the country. In fact, it's the single most compelling reason NOT to bring broadband to the unserved areas (sorry farmers). The fact is, cost varies inversely with density and distance from a central office or cable headend. A relatively small chunk of end-users, 250k to be exact, would require over 50% of the entire $23.5 Billion broadband plan budget.

So, ever seeking the most cost-justifiable solution, the FCC's exhaustive research has shown one simple truth (and this should be no surprise to anybody): wireless broadband is the cheapest route. For over 90% of the yet unserved households and businesses in the U.S., fixed wireless broadband is cheaper than any terrestrial network option.

What is most revealing, however, is that in 100% of cases (a figure the government does not throw around lightly) a wireless local loop is the least expensive option for connecting broadband to the premise. From the line to the building, in every instance of a broadband customer, the FCC recommends using wireless, not fiber, to finish the final stretch.

In fact, this same cost advantage can be found regardless of how urban or rural the location is. In nearly every instance, a wireless local loop will require a shorter lead time, less man-hours, and an overall lower cost than terrestrial network. Accel Networks proprietary antenna technology can be installed and provisioned in under 3 days, allowing businesses to (especially new locations and new tenants) to be up and running in no time... and when time is money, that's important.

One last plug for wireless... the FCC also commented on something vital to our economy: competition. Where terrestrial networks are the sole dependency, the ability for multiple providers to serve a single market (and thereby bring much-needed competition) is nil. Wireless is faster to deploy and lends itself to multiple carriers entering the marketplace. Competition breeds innovation and options for consumers. Products such as Accel Networks multi-carrier wireless broadband are made even better as more options come online.

Labels: Broadband Plan, FCC, Fixed Wireless Broadband, Rural Broadband

posted by Unknown at 6:41 AM Link to this Article  0 Comments

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

1. Your first day at the new office starts with, "Is the DSL hooked up yet? ... OK, I'll be at Panera if you need me."
2. You have to add a special section to the employee handbook on imprint machines under the section, "What to do in case of an emergency."
3. You had to factor invoices to pay for the last service call from your carrier.
4. You're launching so many new locations this year, your COO has "the phone company" on speed dial.
5. Your last PCI audit revealed that, in fact, using old imprint slips as scrap paper for note-taking is most definitely non-compliant.
6. Your postal address includes the terms "Rural Route" and your mailman looks like Burt Reynolds.
7. A fiber-optic line has been "coming soon" to your area for the last 7 years.
8. A mis-hap at the construction site down the street killed internet to your location for days.
9. The IT department says it's the carrier's fault; the carrier says it's your IT department's fault; and you're willing to pay anyone just to get the POS back online.
10. The last time your contracts with the carrier were re-negotiated, MySpace was still popular.
    

Labels: backup network, Fixed Wireless Broadband, PCI Compliance, POS, Rural Broadband

posted by Unknown at 10:06 AM Link to this Article  0 Comments