Portland is planning to issue an RFP for a municipal “city cloud” but VeriLAN, a wireless ISP and contractor, based in Portland, Oregon, isn’t waiting. They’ve already built one.

Now they’re putting a Vivato panel on a television tower.

Steven Schroedl, President and founder of VeriLAN, told DailyWireless editor Sam Churchill this weekend that they are putting a Vivato outdoor phased array panel on top of KGW television’s tower on April 15th.

The new Vivato (above), provides outdoor 802.11G connectivity. It’s a ruggedized version of their Atheros-based VP2200 (pdf), their 802.11G indoor panel. The new unit, about half the size of the older 802.11b-only unit, has a plexiglass radome-like covering.

VeriLAN is a reseller for Vivato. They installed an outdoor VP-1200, an 802.11b-based unit on a warehouse overlooking Portland over a year ago (below), and started testing the new 802.11g panel, last fall.

DailyWireless tested the Vivato at Spokane’s Hoopfest in the summer of 2003. Independent consultant, Jim Geier has a more in-depth test of the 802.11b panel and explains its features.

The two Vivato panels (the outdoor 802.11b and the outdoor 802.11g), currently illuminate office buildings in downtown Portland and Waterfront Park. DailyWireless, using a free account supplied by VeriLAN, can confirm coverage about a mile away and further with a small panel antenna using the 802.11b panel. (VeriLAN recently moved the Vivato panel to another location near the B&O warehouse to avoid an interference problem).

The new 802.11g panel provides only a single channel – and considerably less range. Users will need an external antenna if they want to receive VeriLAN’s Vivato on the tv tower. The effective range will be tested. The indoor “G” panel has the following power outputs:

• 41 dBm typical @ 802.11b rates
• 37 dBm typical @ 802.11g rates

The key to Vivato range is its phased array. Vivato gets around the FCC power limitations of 36dBm (4 watts EIRP), by focusing their beams on users. That allows Vivato to utilize FCC point-to-point rules. PTP rules allow more transmit and receive gain which allows Vivato to provide extended WiFi coverage covering a 110 degree area. Using a Vivato’s beams, an ordinary 802.11b card in a laptop can connect as far as 1-2 miles under ideal line-of-sight conditions. The “G” panel has less than half that range.

Schroedl says the new Vivato panel, and especially the new version 2.0 of Vivato’s software, is key. It boasts QOS, supports 802.1X, rogue access point detection, and a range of security and management features typically found in newer enterprise WiFi access points.

Vivato skeptics such as Nigel Ballard, have argued that ten, $500 access points can provide better coverage for half the cost. Multiple access points cover “shadows” better than the Vivato “spotlight”. Mesh networking is also viewed as a cost/effective answer for covering downtown areas. Mesh backbones can eliminate the need for phone or cable backbones and reduce single point failures.

Nigel Ballard largely spearheaded a (somewhat) competing network, the PREN Network (Portland Regional Education Network). It runs up “pill hill”, just south of Portland. Using Airspan pre-WiMax backhaul, it is intended to feed numerous WiFi hotspots as well as provide collaboration and research opportunities.

Vivato supporters argue its extended range and simplied management make sense for installations serving large areas with few blockages such as parks, seaports, airports and stadiums. Tracking moving users over a broad area is Vivato’s forte. It can eliminate “handoff” requirements while concentrating a “beam” on weak WiFi signals. A Vivato covers a 356,000-square-foot warehouse for Columbia Distributing which had previously needed 25 traditional Wi-Fi access points to monitor inventory in its Renton, Washington warehouse.

Both VeriLAN and PREN use “pre-WiMax” backbones. VeriLAN currently uses Wi-LAN’s Libra 5800 gear to feed a tower-mounted Wi-LAN base station on the television tower. That base station feeds the Vivato located near the Willamette river some 4 miles away. Schroedl expects to have a fiber backbone to the KGW tower, soon. That would feed both the tower-mounted Vivato and the WiMax base station.

Schroedl travels around the world consulting and installing wireless gear. He tells DailyWireless he is involved in 4 pilot projects and has submitted bids on a number of municipal RFPs. Some muni networks are closed, city-only networks, others are public WiFi networks. VeriLAN also offers wireless VoIP, providing dial tone in 2000 cities with 4 digit dialing to anyone, anywhere.

The Rural Electric Association has deployed six Vivato 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi base stations and several Vivato micro and pico cells (right) in Walla Walla, Columbia and Umatilla counties.

Spokane, with a population of 196,000, also plans city-wide coverage with Vivato for their Spokane Hot Zone. It covers some 100 square blocks in downtown Spokane. After the first two hours of free use each day, OneEighty Networks, the Spokane HotZone operator, charges $6.95 for the rest of a day s use or $49.95 for a month.

The Portland Vivato installation should be interesting. The outdoor Vivato 802.11g panel wouldn’t normally be mounted on a television tower, some 2-5 miles away from subscribers. Obviously, no direct connection to a laptop card would be possible. But it could open up new opportunities for backhaul.

The viability of the concept is about to be tested. Will it cause interference with other hot spots or Portland’s planned municipal network? Will the Vivato panel prove too cumbersome to mount on a television mast? Will wireless backbones now be enabled cost/effectively for parks and remote areas? Stay tuned.

To launch their new service, VeriLAN has a compelling deal; from now through April 15th, VeriLAN will offer access to the Vivato panels on the east side of Portland – absolutely free and unthrottled. VeriLAN hopes the benefits of free wireless service will convince many people to upgrade to faster wireless service starting at $35/month. A range of speeds and services are available.

VeriLAN wants their own brand of “city cloud” and (perhaps) tweek Portland’s Municipal WiFi task force. We wish them (both) all the best.

Related DailyWireless stories include; Portland’s Free Cloud, NW Wireless Conference, Vivato Adds Outdoor G, VeriLAN Tests Prototype Outdoor Vivato, Vivato in Huge Regional Net, Live from Greenpeace, Free Content on VeriLAN’s City Cloud, Vivato’s 802.11g Phased Array, Vivato At Port of Seattle, Vivato Unwires Spokane, Police Use Vivato, First Commercial 802.16a Switched On and Living Under A Cloud, by Nigel Ballard.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Posted by Sam Churchill on Monday, March 28th, 2005 at 1:27 am.