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January 1, 2007
Hit or Miss: No Way to Verify your WiFi
| For More Information |
Tim Blodgett
Hometown Connections
303-526-4515
tblodgett@hometownconnections.com
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Uptown Services Tests Performance of Muni Networks
Municipal wireless broadband networks are meeting the demand by homeowners for Internet access at speeds greater than dial-up and at pricing lower than DSL or cable modem. But municipal WiFi (wireless fidelity) customers can be frustrated by spotty network performance. It may take multiple visits from technicians or long phone calls with customer service representatives to troubleshoot poor signal strength. To make sure the customer experience with municipal WiFi will be solid from the first day of service, Uptown Services offers a testing service that verifies performance quality block by block for every address, in advance of the customer order.
Uptown Services has provided broadband consulting and implementation support services to more than 40 public power utilities in affiliation with Hometown Connections, the utility services subsidiary of the American Public Power Association. Through its “WiVeriFi” third-party validation testing service for wireless networks, Uptown comes on the scene after the wireless network is built out. Using a specialized test platform and custom software, Uptown gathers performance data across the advertised service area. Testing parameters include coverage, data throughput, delay, packet loss, and loss of entire files.
Because it operates on unlicensed spectrum, WiFi is a low-cost Internet access solution. The challenge for WiFi is the potential degrading of service quality by noise from other electronic or wireless devices, as well from trees or buildings that obstruct signal propagation. “Our goal is to provide the customer service department with a database of the entire service area, able to predict the signal strength for every address. The service representative could tell the homeowner at 100 Elm St., for example, which type of home antenna is needed and on which side of the house it should be installed,“ said Neil Shaw, an Uptown principal.
News and research company Muniwireless.com estimates that spending on municipal wireless networks will exceed $235 million in 2006 and grow to $460 million in 2007. The drivers behind the municipal WiFi growth are the relative low cost of deploying the technology, the appeal of providing public safety and other city workers with mobile broadband service in the field, the economic development advantages of offering broadband alternatives, and the ability to boost “digital inclusion” by providing low-cost broadband to economically disadvantaged citizens.
To launch WiFi, municipalities are building out wireless networks or partnering with network operators. The network operator should be bound by contract to maintain a certain level of coverage and throughput, and service level testing should occur when the operator says the network is ready for paying customers. Uptown’s WiVeriFi data will enable the service providers’ engineering teams to adjust performance until contractual service levels are met. The municipality will confirm the system capabilities from all points up front, rather than through hit or miss interactions with customers as they log on.
“It’s critical that municipalities not rush headlong into the WiFi vortex without some protection that comes from using independent, third party validation testing,” said Tim Blodgett, president and CEO, Hometown Connections. “The city’s name is going to be associated with these deployments, so the city should not risk its reputation with a carte blanche agreement with a service provider that doesn’t have any teeth from a testing point of view. The municipality has a lot at stake with this kind of project and would be better served with a truly independent testing firm like Uptown Services. The WiFi service provider is always going to be biased when it comes to judging the performance of its own network.”
“We developed the WiVeriFi service because we want to make sure municipal broadband is successful and because wireless is an inexact science at best,” said Uptown’s Shaw. “We saw the need for an unbiased party to certify that municipal networks perform up to their promise. And we saw the need to develop a benchmarking database that will help our clients see where they fall on a percentile basis.”
Susan Ryba handles marketing for Hometown Connections.
Visit the Uptown Services web site for more info
• Uptown Services
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