Wireless has a Place at the Table

John Baloga - COO, Airwave
John offered up a Wireless Infrastructures Primer, which was worthwhile, and concluded - "Wireless is the right choice - Sometimes!!!" So began a more and more detailed panel discussion, which tended to stress the problem aspects of Wi Fi and unlicensed spectrum and gloss over the benefits .. Wireless is a good fit -

Wireless Technology Overview slide (was a good one, get it)
- Where cabling cannot be accomplished - historical, retrofits, ROW issues
- Where quick deployments, temporary needs can be met
- It's scalable and easy to deploy
- It's a good fit for a mixed use facility
- It will help to encourage people to congregate
- New builds as a complimentary service
- Mobility is needed where its wanted - see college students especially!

Infrastructure Options slide
- High Quantity Low Cost Wireless APs (Linksys, Netgear) - personal use, Hot Spots, lower CapEx, but higher OpEx because of complexity and poor fit
- High Quantity Controller Bases AP system (Cisco / Aruba) - for enterprise use, Hot Spots, but with management and higher costs
- Mesh Indoor / Outdoor System (Belair Networks) - best of both worlds, take most of the wires out of the system,
Few APs needed, Fewer Ethernet cabling needed, Mgmt using Carrier grade NMS allows for adds, moves, changes easily across the system

Coverage and Capacity slide
Benefits of Outside In (v. wiring an entire building)
What about when they plug in an AP into your wired network? Have to educate the resident, have to educate the owner, have to have a policy on wireless usage … have to provide options for voluntary cooperation,

Tom Doyle, Sr. VP Ops, Spot On Networks
For garden style apartments, Mesh is best. One of the pros of unlicensed spectrum wireless is that it is widely available, which is offset by problems - the flip side - use of Wi Fi by a bunch of amateurs clutters an environment. You have to ask "How will the channels be set up and how will they work?" There's a need for coordination among users: property owners in the MDU space need to consider that a proliferation of Wi Fi routers in apartments does not give a good user experience. Interference results, so somebody needs to be in charge to manage and coordinate the frequency bands. A rational user strategy is possible. Consider that telcos and MSOs do not have any strategy for MDUs in terms of wireless. The model is the same as it is for single family homes, but with MDUs, the high density of occupants, with everyone having a Wi Fi router, becomes a recipe for disaster. Consumer education is needed, and someone needs to be a local manager of the Wireless network.

Steve Carlock, Sales, BelAir
The way to manage the Rogue AP problem is to work with tenants and owners to educate them on the problems that would happen if they DID NOT remove their old APs. Let them see that dismal future..The benefits of coordination on spectrum usage are plain once explained to most users, once they see the light!

Chris Bowman, CTO and Co-Founder, Korcett Holdings
Managing the data system issues is a challenge: you need to have a way to authenticate users, typically need security on the AP, with a key. What works the best is an open network without keys, create accounts, but with a password that users know, but strangers do not.

Steve Sadler, Director, Ancillary Services, Post Apartment Homes LP
In a Bulk solution, with a Wireless Umbrella across the whole property, it can work quite well, but residents still would have access to their wired services. In other words, even though they were paying for the service, the usage would not be that high. Lots of users are stuck with the traditional providers , and keep in mind, there is a difference between a luxury environment and student expectations in a student apartment complex. We still have not figured out the model altogether, and there is resistance to pay for a service. The challenge is that service providers won’t build Wi Fi networks without a business model for cost recovery, and third parties can’t make money on it (NOTE to MetroNetiQ – this sounds like an argument for public ownership.)

Ian Davis, Lawyer, Muncsch Hardt Kopf and Harr
Wi Fi is a marketing amenity as much or more than it is a service amenity. As for the law, the acceptable use policy in the student housing says "here are the duties, one of which is you can't put an AP on our network, but they can always go to Time Warner and put a wireless AP out there." Still at least having a policy, even one that is bad or incomplete, is better than having No Policy at all. The fall back are these two phrases in renters' contracts "to the extent permitted by applicable law" and "at no cost to owner" This is still a live issue in a very new area.

Q&A

"Please summarize the business value of wireless in an MDU facility?" (I asked this question!)

Wireless has a place:
1. Overlay as a complement to wired
2. An amenity throughout the campus
3. As a managed service by a third party