Wireless Networking for Colleges and Universities

Hello. I am going to speak with you today about wireless networking for colleges and universities. Until now we have seen wireless networking as a niche in our total communications package. Now, with new unlicensed band widths, and new wireless technologies becoming available, we see wireless as a very important solution that we can offer to our institutions.

I am going to speak about Metricom's Ricochet® Wireless Internet Access, and about Lucent Technologies' WaveLAN® which provides wireless Local Area Network connectivity.

Ricochet® wireless service uses spread-spectrum, frequency-hopping, packet-switched technology. It operates in the unlicensed spectrum, and the 902-928 MHz range. They've divided that range up into 162 channels, each one 160 KHz wide. Frequency hopping works by sending a packet which randomly selects one of the channels. Each packet selects a different channel. If a channel is busy, the packet is re-sent on another randomly selected channel. Ricochet® uses micro-cellular technology. They have low-powered radios about every _ mile, and it depends on the density and geography, of course. Often they are mounted on power poles or on sides of buildings. The signal hops between radios to a central point called a Wired Access Point where it joins Metricom's wired national network.

Now, the end user of Metricom�s service sees a radio modem, weighs less than 14 ounces. They see service much like a high-speed modem, between 9.6 and 28.8 kbps, and that depends upon atmospheric conditions, a number of simultaneous users, if they are close to a window in a building -- many factors determining how fast their modem speed is. The modem plugs into the standard serial port on either a Windows machine or on a MacIntosh. The end user sees PPP, and, if the school chooses to purchase a router, the end user also sees the school�s domain name, which can be very important. Unlimited Internet access is one feature that is included with the lease or purchase of a modem.

Now why would one choose a Metricom Wireless solution? Well, it creates an intermediate solution for connectivity. For example, if you have residence halls that have not yet been connected, or classrooms that are still waiting for higher speed connectivities. It also serves the commuting population in the local Metricom service area. In the Washington, DC area, for example, Metricom is throughout the southern Maryland and DC area and our commuting population often uses our Metricom service to provide them with Internet access. It can also better serve a growing population of laptop and personal digital assistant users. These people value their mobility and very much appreciate having a modem that can travel with their computers. Finally, it gives you a way to develop a range of alternative connectivity systems, from high speed wired down to low speed modem access, with the wireless access fitting somewhere in between.

Now the cost to the university is one feature that makes the Metricom solution very attractive. It costs you your time and your energy to negotiate, to work with your internal facilities and communications people to get everything set up. You may choose to buy a router, and I would recommend this option. But there are no other costs. If you're within a Metricom cloud, which is the Bay area, Seattle, Washington, DC, and soon to come, Los Angeles. Metricom is working on other major metropolitan areas of the country as well. Outside of the cloud, you have to make a guarantee of 300 initial users. On GW�s campus, for example, we have over 500 users currently using the Metricom system. Now, the campus reseller earns $45 per user which helps bring money back into the organization to cover your marketing efforts.

Now, the cost to the end user is quite reasonable. There is a $45 activation fee. And then the cost is $29.95 a month for nine months lease of the modem. But you pay for nine months, but you get 12 months of service, and this includes the lease of the modem. There is a $4 per month optional modem insurance. Now, the costs are quite reasonable if you consider that it is less expensive than purchasing an extra phone line for the home and purchasing Internet access from an Internet service provider.

Now I would like to speak with you about WaveLAN® Wireless Service. WaveLAN® uses direct sequence spread-spectrum technology, a little bit different than the frequency hopping that we saw with Ricochet®. WaveLAN® also operates in the unlicensed spectrum, this time either in the 915 MHz or in the 2.4 GHz range. With direct sequence spread-spectrum, the information signal is spread multiple times over the wave band.

WaveLAN® signal may be connected to a wired network at a WavePOINT® bridge or really at any stand-alone PC or server-based bridge. Now, the range of WaveLAN® is around 800 feet in the open air ,but the actual range depends on the building structure, and typically you see WaveLAN® operating within the immediate vicinity of buildings.

Now, the end user of WaveLAN® sees an internal interface card or PCM/CIA card in their notebook computer. They get around 2 Mbps of raw throughput and the same functionality as they would find in a wired network.

Why would a college or university choose WaveLAN® or any other wireless LAN? They are very useful for difficult wiring environments, such as building with asbestos or historic buildings where core drilling may not be permitted. They are also very good frequently changing environments. For example, you all have experienced offices that keep moving ahead of projects. The wireless LAN may be a good option for connecting these people. They are also very useful for temporary LANs. For example, if you have a faculty research showcase that is located in a large hall. A temporary solution could well be a wireless LAN. They are also very good for mobile users. One example would be in a hospital, where hospital workers going from room to room would carry along a personal digital assistant to communicate through a wireless LAN with a central hospital database.

Unlike the Ricochet® solution, there is cost to the university for the wireless local area network solution. If you consider all of the costs, expect to pay around $900 per node.

For more information on wireless networking, check the references that were included with this CD. Thank you very much.

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