"Muni Wi-Fi KO'd by wrong kind of hills, trees, rain"

<http://www.theregister.com/2006/05/04/muni_wifi_urban_ko/>

Google's launch of a Wi-Fi network in its home town of Mountain View
may be delayed, according to reports. The company is scrambling to
build more transmitters than it originally planned, notes eWeek's Ben
Charny.

It's typical of the delays in getting municipal Wi-Fi projects up and
running. Bouyed more by evangelism - and lobbying dollars - rather
than reality, Wi-Fi projects are experiencing the kind of issues all
too familiar to experienced network engineers.

...

"The need for pilots of municipal WiFi seem beyond prudent," Crossman
tells us.

San Francisco has additional challenges over Mountain View, he notes.

"Hills, older construction with lead and mesh which significantly
reduce penetration of outside signals, and a much higher coverage
requirement of 95 per cent outdoors and 90 per cent indoors are
significant issues," he says.

Crossman notes that the same technology, Tropos, being used in
Mountain View is also planned for San Francisco.

It's the indoor coverage that appears to be the stumbling block.

[MORE]

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Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR ALT.INTERNET.WIRELESS AT
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John Navas <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:

><http://www.theregister.com/2006/05/04/muni_wifi_urban_ko/>

> It's the indoor coverage that appears to be the stumbling block.

Indoor coverage? This is beginning to sound like a bad science
fiction story. Does any wireless ISP or municipal wireless network
claim to provide indoor coverage? Not that I can recall. Maybe it's
because Earthlink only seems to know about selling to home users?
Checking:
http://www.featherwifi.net/products/city/
No mention of residential service. It says "roam the city" and "in
the field".

The standard solution to any and all wireless mesh network problems
seems to be "add more poletop radios", which just creates more
interference. I suspect the way it works is the engineering study and
original proposal specifies the absolute minimum number of poletops.
Once the contract is signed, the hills, trees, and urban canyons are
magically "discovered", which requires a substantial increase in the
number of poletops and infrastructure. I'm sure the vendors (who
helped do the engineering study) are quite thrilled with the prospect
of selling more poletop radios. Of course, when it's actually
installed, and dead spots are magically discovered, more poletop
radios will be the standard answer.

As for rain:
http://www.featherwifi.net/faq/
3. Will inclement weather influence Internet service?
The technologies we use are not significantly affected by
changing weather conditions when deployed as proposed. Wireless
coverage and high-speed backhaul links will be engineered to
perform as specified during worst-case weather conditions for
the local area.
I guess Earthlink wireless is immune to the effects of wet leaves on
trees.

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