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David Taylor, Bedford County Council
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Steve Cuthy, Visualcom
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Eddy Best, London Borough of Waltham Forest
Wireless Inter Building Links - Wireless WAN
Strictly speaking, these should be referred to as Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks or WMAN as these links are only suitable for relatively short distances, typically up to six kilometres per hop. It is possible to span greater distances via a number of hops if locations are available to mount intermediate radio repeater equipment.
Wireless WAN/MAN equipment has seen rapid development in recent years. It is now possible to deliver a full duplex Gigabit Ethernet link across a short haul microwave link. It is possible to replace carrier Extended Ethernet services with a significantly reduced cost wireless alternative in many cases much faster than waiting for a new Extended Ethernet service to be planned. To summarise, the benefits are:
- Full gigabit data rates
- Technology maturity
- Rapid deployment
- Future-proof capacity
- No leased-line costs
- Total network control
We have a range of solutions available, some used the unlicensed 2.4GHz or 5GHz bands and others are in the 80GHz licensed band. License costs in the 80GHz band are relatively low. It is possible to achieve savings in the region of 40% for Gigabit links, 55% for 100Mbit/s links and 70% for 10Mbit/s links when compared to an Extended Ethernet service with a three year contract period (for a single hop link).
We have successfully deployed wireless links as an alternative to Extended Ethernet services for Local Authorities. These tend to be the easiest links to deploy due to the relatively easy access to a number of buildings within the Authority. Wireless WAN solutions are a very useful item in the networking tool kit especially when inter-building links are required at very short notice.
To provide an example of what can be achieved with Wireless WAN links, we have provided three typical examples of where these solutions may be used:
- Extending network reach
- Resilient network rings
- WAN links
Extending Network Reach
The diagram above shows an example of using Wireless WAN solutions to extend network reach to sites out of public carrier reach. The benefits of deploying this type of solution are:
- Quickly solve connectivity issues
- Deliver differentiated high bandwidth services
- East to build-in capacity for future users and services
Resilient Network Rings
The diagram above shows an example of using Wireless WAN solutions to provide redundancy and business continuity. The benefits of deploying this type of solution are:
- Ring topology for maximum network availability
- Avoid costs of leasing or laying new optical fibre cables
- Can provide back up to optical fibre cables
Wireless WAN
The diagram above shows an example of using Wireless WAN solutions to upgrade insufficient infrastructure for next generation services or replacements for EES/WES services. The benefits of deploying this type of solution are:
- Future-proof capacity at each cell
- Add/drop capability reduces site complexity
- Enables multi-hop and ring/mesh topologies
Vendors
This is a sample of the Wireless WAN vendors we work with.
BridgeWave Communications - Gigabit Ethernet outdoor wireless connectivity solutions, delivering the highest availability at the longest distances for full rate Gigabit Ethernet solutions. BridgeWave operate in the 60GHz and 80GHz bands.
Firetide - mesh wireless networking solutions for temporary or difficult to get to locations. Firetide's self-forming and self-healing solution enables rapid deployment and very reliable operation for voice, data and video network solutions.
Redline Communications - provide advanced broadband wireless access and backhaul solutions.