Turnkey Solution for ISPs
Toronto-based WaveRider Communications
Inc., demonstrated the first product in its Last Mile Solution (LMS)
line at the International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE)
2000 in Las Vegas recently.
WaveRider claims its LMS2000 product is the first complete turnkey broadband
wireless system for ISPs. It’s designed to let ISPs serve the needs of
businesses — mainly for high-speed office LAN connections.
LMS2000 uses spread-spectrum radio technology in the license-free 2.4
GHz ISM band and delivers speeds up to 6 megabits per second (Mb) to the
customer’s facility. ISPs can easily control the amount of bandwidth per
customer.
The Next WaveRider
A future product, LMS3000, due to begin shipping at the end of the second
quarter, uses some of the same infrastructure but lets ISPs cater to individual
consumer and SOHO customers.
LMS3000 operates at 900MHz and delivers network speeds to individual
customers of up to 1 Mb.
The product demonstrated at IWCE, LMS2000, includes a subscriber equipment
component, the LMS2000 Wireless Modem, a communications access point (CAP),
the equivalent of a cell site in a cellular network, and a network access
point (NAP), the box that sits at the ISP’s POP.
One of WaveRider’s main selling points is the fact the product is a
complete integrated solution rather than a series of point products, says
vice president International Mike Orloff. And LMS2000 can provide centralized
management of the network, subscribers and bandwidth.
WaveRider says it already has more than $15 million in LMS system orders
and recently signed a $28-million distribution deal in Mexico.
One of its first customers, North Rock Communications Ltd., an ISP in
Bermuda, will deploy the product starting this spring to deliver wireless
connectivity to businesses in Hamilton, the island’s largest city.
Public Access Internet
Lucent Technologies last
month announced the Orinoco AS-1000 Access Server for broadband wireless
IP network access.
Orinoco Access Server networks can leverage existing network infrastructures
and technologies allowing service providers and enterprises to offer secure,
high-speed wireless Internet access in public places such as airports,
hotels, and convention centers, as well as university campuses and businesses.
The Orinoco AS Client provides the equivalent of wireless dial-up access
in public places. By inserting an Orinoco PC Card into a laptop, clicking
the AS Client and logging on, a user can easily and wirelessly access
the Internet – or a company intranet using corporate VPN software.
Current Lucent Technologies WaveLAN PC Cards and most other IEEE 802.11b-compliant
Wireless LAN cards will also work with Orinoco Access Server networks.
The company claims the log-on process is as user friendly as with wireline
home access ISPs, yet as secure as wired remote access to corporate intranets.
Orinoco simplifies encryption key management by generating keys at the
local access server rather than on the network level.
The product also supports industry-standard authentication, authorization
and accounting via RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service).
This allows seamless integration with a service provider’s existing network
infrastructure. SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) management tools
provide control and monitoring capabilities to service providers and network
managers.
Lucent is working with universities, service providers and businesses
nationwide to install Orinoco AS-1000 Access Servers in a variety of environments.
A single AS-1000 unit provides up to 11Mb Internet access for up to 50
simultaneous users. Multiple AS-1000 units networked together offer seamless
coverage of large sprawling facilities, and wireless access to numerous
users.
First Cisco Wireless ISP
Networks Inc., a Plano, Texas company, announced last month it was
entering into a strategic relationship with Cisco
Systems and would become the first service provider to offer wireless
Internet access using Cisco’s Vector Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
(VOFDM) solution.
Nucentrix, which already provides other wireless broadband services
in medium and small markets, will use the Cisco gear to offer wireless
broadband Internet access and eventually, telephony services.
The two companies plan to conduct a field trial in Austin Texas beginning
in April 2000, and a second in Amarillo Texas that will end September
2000. After successfully completing the trials and receiving FCC approval,
Nucentrix expects to launch VOFDM-based wireless broadband services in
at least 20 markets by the end of 2001.
“Cisco’s VOFDM solution is the only one in the market that enables low-cost
cellular wireless broadband deployments,” said Carroll McHenry, chairman
and chief executive officer of Nucentrix.
“Nucentrix will increase its network capacity and be able to provide
a full set of business enhancing service offerings. We will now be able
to offer wireless broadband services to small and medium businesses, telecommuters
and consumers on a single network platform.”
The Nucentrix-Cisco announcement followed last quarter’s announcement
by Cisco that it was joining forces with ten leading companies to develop
open technology standards based on VOFDM technology for wireless broadband
Internet services.
