Broadband Wireless Internet Access (BWIA) News

Administrivia - Argh! (updated)

I just relearned one of renowned author Jerry Pournelle's primary rules for writers:

Save your work early and save your work often.

Although that dictum is second nature to me when using my primary writing environment, Microsoft Word for Windows, whose Alt-F, S keystrokes to File (menu), Save work in progress to a file is completely reflex to me now, Radio Userland's web-based editing environment has no equivalent. So you pile in the text, and your only "Save" function is to "Post" and/or "Publish"... which I wasn't ready to do until I was done composing. Work in progress is in total peril.

Radio Userland's web-based editor just glitched (unbidden and unexpectedly, it brought up a status screen of most accessed Radio Userland weblog pages) and my carefully crafted hours of work in the editing window - links, highlights, and prose from a week's worth news relevant to Broadband Wireless Internet Access are all gone for the moment. This is definitely a "fool me twice, shame on me" moment. Radio Userland is a great environment for publishing a weblog, but it's moments like this that very forcefully remind me that by no stretch of the imagination should Radio Userland be considered a finished product.

Sigh...

Update August 6, 2002 - Update on Argh! I was SO ticked off about losing my posting... so it took me a while to cool off to begin posting again. On further reflection, there is a way to save Radio Userland content that's in preparation, but it's certainly non-obvious. That method is to only compose paragraph-by-paragraph. After each paragraph is entered, one should do a "Post Changes". That gets the entered text onto the public web page, and after that, if Radio Userland glitches, then the text is still "safe" on the main web page and can be "copy and paste" recovered. This requres something of an adjustment for me as my writing style is iterative; I'll be writing one thing, and I'll realize I wanted to add another comment to what I previously wrote, etc. So, I have to adjust my writing style, when using Radio Userland, away from the "get it perfect before you post" mindset to more of a "revise as often as necessary" mindset. (I just about did it again; I wanted to begin entering another story, but paragraph on a different topic, but before I do I want to post what I've written so far.

Steve Stroh

Copyright © 2002-2004 by Steve Stroh. This article originally appeared on my original Broadband Wireless Internet Access Weblog hosted on Radio Userland.

Administrivia - Update On My Experiences with Radio Userland (updated)

My email letter to Customer Service at Userland Software, subject "Suggestions - Radio Userland":

The included documentation for Radio Userland is dismal. I know that's because it's a continually evolving product, and that much of the strength of RU is in its rabid community of users... but really folks... Userland should be gathering up that information, perhaps paying (gasp!) people who've done a credible job of developing good documentation and borrow it. At least provide a comprehensive set of LINKS to those helpful people in the Radio Userland documentation.

There... that felt better. :-)

That said, nothing works better that I've seen for getting started with a weblog. The gripes start when you want to evolve a bit. Here are several suggestions for making it better:

The Navigator links needs to be a menu item by itself, and it needs to be MUCH more intuitive than hand editing XML/HTML. Yes, it's more powerful when you do it that way, but for mere mortals just trying to publish a weblog it's daunting.

Embedding photos should be one HECK of a lot more intuitive than it is. I know how to do it now, but it was a struggle to find an explanation that explained it to me so that I understood it.

Along that same line, I finally understand categories. Very cool concept, highly useful, and I'm about to start making use of them. The only gotcha is that the same Navigator Links apparently show up in all categories. It should be intuitive to have a different Navigator Links for each category... or the option to keep them all common. It's just that the Navigator Links that I so lovingly crafted for my main weblog (Broadband Wireless Internet Access) aren't going to be that useful to readers of my other category pages - like Amateur Radio, personal commentary, etc.

All in all, it's a good product now, steadily getting better. If Userland could:

• Improve the included documentation
  
• Improve the intuitiveness of the Navigator Links
  
• Improve the intuitiveness of including graphics files
  
• Make it possible to have separate Navigator Links for each category

Then it would be well on its way to being a GREAT product!

Thanks,

Steve

--

Steve Stroh

Editor - FOCUS on Broadband Wireless Internet Access newsletter

Broadband Wireless Internet Access Weblog http://www.strohpub.com/weblog

Well, it's been about a week since I've been "blogging" as the "biterati" call it, and it's been interesting. Overall, it's been very liberating to be able to see a news story of relevance and create a mention of it quickly and generally not have to hassle with formatting and how it will look.

I'm still discovering features of Radio Userland. While Radio Userland's integral hosting, software, and updates package (notice no support - that's pretty much do-it-yourself) makes it easy to get started, that's not to say that it's "easy". Some points...

• There doesn't appear to be any documentation resembling "Radio Userland For Dummies" - a basic introduction to its capabilities written for someone with little previous experience.
• You're at a disadvantage with RU if you don't understand at least minimal HTML commands to put emphasis like italics and bold where you want them.
• Some of the most powerful features are wrapped up in knowing XML... which I'll admit is a total mystery to me other than to know that in the right hands, it's a wonderous thing. You can source related stories, etc. from other sources if you know XML.
• There was a very subtle "gotcha" in my initial use of RU because my primary web browser is Opera. On the composition page, in Opera, no What You See Is What You Get controls - just a text box. Using Internet Explorer, the WYSIWYG controls are there. On non-IE browsers, I gather that there's supposed to be a Java applet with the WYSIWYG controls, but that didn't happen in my case.
• Being able to put links down the left side of your RU page was just a complete mystery. I finally found where you do that, and istead of it being relatively intuitive (text boxes for "name of the link?" and "link address?"), you end up having to manually edit some HTML code. Being able to put in links was a big breakthrough.
• This feature, "Stories" was a completely surprise on discovering it (it cerainly didn't leap out at me in my first week of use), and one I may use of on some of the longer blog pieces that I've posted to date.
• How to post graphics and photos remain a complete mystery. There was a utility that purported to make it very easy, but I couldn't seem to get it to work
  

Overall, I'm much better off having Radio Userland; and once the tricks are learned it's a pretty easy process to post entries. But it could use a lot more polish.

Steve Stroh

Copyright (c) 2002-2004 by Steve Stroh. This article originally appeared on my original Broadband Wireless Internet Access Weblog (in the stories section) hosted on Radio Userland.

Well-written General Interest Articles On Broadband Wireless Internet Access

One of the major reasons I began writing about Broadband Wireless Internet Access was the (then, and still true) relatively dismal state of reporting on Broadband Wireless Internet Access industry trends, technologies, companies, products, etc. The problems with such reporting run the entire gamut - incorrect facts, lack of relevant context, sins of omission, sins of comission, little distinction betwen various wireless technologies, etc. At the moment, it's a sufficiently arcane subject and industry so it's perhaps not so surprising that the reporting on BWIA is generally poor.

So it's rare that I find "general interest" stories on wireless that I can recommend, such as the ones listed below. I distinguish "general interest" stories from "industry-specific" stories. For example, I'll likely not mention articles that appear in Broadband Wireless Business Magazine because that publication is specific to the Broadband Wireless Internet Access industry, and the feature stories are typically well-written and well-editied from the perspective of reasonably in-depth knowlege of the BWIA industry. (Disclaimer - I'm now writing regularly for BWB.) Note that the links provided are accurate only at the time of posting; they may well become invalid over time as web sites addresses are periodically shuffled. Stories are listed in order of "latest at top".

Stories:

July 31, 2002 - NewsForge.com - Small-time ISPs Jump On Wireless Bandwagon, by Robin "Roblimo" Miller
http://newsforge.com/newsforge/02/07/26/2258223.shtml
Profiles several "fed up with no broadband, might as well start my own" Wireless ISPs (WISP). A pretty fair assesment of what goes into being a Wireless ISP. The author describes two vendors pretty much at opposite ends of the WISP equipment spectrum and does justice to both. Most importantly the author reminds the reader that being a WISP consists of equal parts "Wireless" and "Internet Service Provider" - there are still many of the headaches (billing) of being an ISP, even though there are many fewer wires to deal with.

June 20, 2002 - Economist.com Technology Quarterly - Watch This Airspace. by (author not stated)
http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=1176136
Wireless telecoms: Four disruptive technologies are emerging that promise to render not only the next wave of so-called 3G wireless networks irrelevant, but possibly even their 4G successors. The author (no byline is shown) does a very good job of discussing new four powerful wireless trends - "smart" antennas, mesh networking, ad-hoc networking, and ultrawideband. (Thanks to Tim Finan via a posting to Dave Farber's IP mailing list for the pointer to this story; I'll also concede that Glenn Fleishman "scooped" me on mentioning this story on his excellent weblog 802.11b Networking News.)

March 18, 2002 - Telephony Magazine - Bridging The Cumberland Gap, by Kevin Fitchard
(Link too long to display, click here for story, link only seems to work with Internet Explorer.)
The article details how tiny Allegany County in rural Maryland finally got fed up with the indifference of Verizon not providing broadband services, and constructed Allconet, a public broadband Internet access network. Allconet was constructed using different types of Broadband Wireless Internet Access equipment from several vendors, for a fraction of the cost for equivalent services using wireline technologies. Best of all, Allconet is operational now and providing Broadband Internet Access service to Allegany county residents and businesses. A bit of BWIA industry humor is the quote from a Verizon representative that the construction of "bypass" systems like Allconet are a "disincentive" for Verizon to deploy broadband services more widely. As if Verizon needs any "discincentives" not to deploy broadband services more widely, especially in rural areas :-) I'll readily concede that Telephony Magazine isn't a "General Interest" magazine, but it only rarely covers Broadband Wireless Internet Access topics. I found the article to be informative, generally accurate, and well worth mentioning. (Thanks to Patrick Leary of Alvarion via a posting to the isp-wireless mailing list for the pointer to this story.)

Steve Stroh

Copyright (c) 2002-2004 by Steve Stroh. This article originally appeared on my original Broadband Wireless Internet Access Weblog (in the stories section) hosted on Radio Userland.

FSO Alliance Formally Affiliates With the Wireless Communications Association International

The Free Space Optical (FSO) Alliance has formally agreed to permanently affiliate with the Wireless Communications Association (WCA) International. In my opinion, this is a bit overdue (the synergies were obvious to me from the formation of the FSO more than a year ago), but very welcome and a strong validation of the highly complimentary nature of "Broadband Wireless Radio Frequency" and "Broadband Wireless Optical" technologies. FSO, in my mind, is simply "Terahertz Radio Frequency" (THz RF), and as such, completely consistent with the overall mission and role of the WCA - to represent the Broadband Wireless Internet Access industry. My strongest congratulations to the leadership of both organizations for bringing this to a successful conclusion!

(This is the one story that survived the Argh! because it had been copied into an email message.)

Steve Stroh

Copyright © 2002-2004 by Steve Stroh. This article originally appeared on my original Broadband Wireless Internet Access Weblog hosted on Radio Userland. This article was backdated to July 25, 2002 from August 6, 2002.

hereUare To Be Bought... Or Shut Down

Eric Griffin reports on 802.11 Planet.com (linked at left) that hereUare Communications is for sale. hUa is a "back-end" service provider for independent operators of wireless hot spots. Using hUa's authentication and billing services; setting up a wireless hot spot could be as easy as ordering a DSL line, plugging in an access point, and waiting for the checks to come rolling in. Hot spot users would see a co-branded hUa web page for payment or authentication, and hUa would pay the hot spot owner monthly. Of course, it could never be that literally simple, but hUa removed a lot of the pain of setting up a hot spot.

hereUare was a great idea, and I recommended its service to a number of people. I saw vast potential in hUa's services for "Internet co-ops" such as Wireless Neighborhood Area Networks constructed by a homeowner's association which would not want to be in the messy business of collecting payment for Internet service. Far better, in my opinion, to outsource such tasks to companies like hereUare, let them be "the bad guy if someone doesn't pay their bill.

Unfortunately, the reports I received back as a result of those recommendations were fairly negative, with complaints such as hUa didn't follow up on serious inquiries and had no standardized rates.

It seems likely that hereUare will be acquired at least in some form. Its Electronic Coinbox technology was innovative and I'm currently unaware of any other vendor having made inroads of at least some 802.11b access point vendors as hUa was able to do. One logical potential buyer is Boingo Wireless, which as a partner knows hereUare quite well.

A development I see as inevitable is the formation of a franchise-like operation to set up wireless hot spots. The franchise would:

• Business plans
• Offer pre-selected hardware packages for wireless hot spots (indoor) and wireless hot zones (outdoor)
• Offer pre-arranged prices on backhaul bandwidth; for example with a national provider of business-class DSL services
• Offer aggregated billing services and roaming agreements with companies like hereUare Communications
• Technical support

I'm convinced that such a franchise will happen and that wireless hot spots will become ubiquitous.

Steve Stroh

Copyright © 2002-2004 by Steve Stroh. This article originally appeared on my original Broadband Wireless Internet Access Weblog hosted on Radio Userland.

Doonesbury on Home Wireless Networks

[The filename of this comic, formerly accessible on www.doonesbury.com, is db020721.gif.]

I've been a fan of Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury "comic strip" (following on the trend to call comic books "graphic novels", I'd call Doonesbury a "graphic editorial") since the mid-70's. Though I rarely pick up a Sunday newspaper these days, when I do, Doonesbury is, of course, a must-read. The Sunday, July 21, 2002 installment was about home wireless network. It was gratifying to see Trudeau got it right on so many points, such as "wardriving", homeowners not bothering to activate built-in security measures (Listen, you might want to check out your daughter's e-mail).

Nicely done, Garry!

Steve Stroh

Copyright © 2002-2004 by Steve Stroh. This article originally appeared on my original Broadband Wireless Internet Access Weblog hosted on Radio Userland.

What Other People Are Saying About Steve Stroh

At the urging of others, I've begun collecting these nice mentions in one place.

July 2002:

• July 12, 2002 - My Amateur Radio buddy and wireless provocateur Bill Vodall WA7NWP, in a posting to the Seattle Amateur Radio TCP/IP Group's seatcp mailing list titled Steve Stroh's fine work: "Our resident writer (and sometimes publicist) has been doing some fine work in the Wi-Fi field. By the use of a BLog (weB Log - for on going frequent on line updates and postings) we can track and follow Steve's handywork. It's on my "Morning Newpaper" list of web sites to visit. (http://wiki.jnos.org/GoodMorning)."
• July 11, 2002 - Nice mention by David Reed regarding my FCC 02-135 Comments - "Other very interesting filings were made by Kevin Werbach (editor of Release 1.0 and former FCC'er), Dewayne Hendricks, Dave Hughes, New America Foundation, et al., Consumer Federation of America, Jock Gill, Steve Stroh."
• July 9, 2002 - I was surprised to see this- WCAI President Andrew Kreig, writing in the WCAI's License Exempt Alliance Report - "WCA�s website received 992,401 �hits� during June. Rather impressively, the industry website operated by Independent Technology Writer and WCA Member Steve Stroh (www.strohpub.com) was the sixth highest referring site, along with such expected sources as Google, Yahoo, MSN and IEEE."
• July 9, 2002 - Nice mention by Tom Williams on the isp-wireless mailing list regarding my FCC 02-135 Comments - "I just read one I really like, written by Steve Stroh. And no, he didn't offer me the traditional $5 to say nice things -- he just put out (IMO) a stellar posting."
• July 4, 2002 - Ed Mitchell in his HamRadio-Online, Common Sense Technology page - "Steve Stroh's Weblog on Broadband Wireless Access and other topics. Steve is a friend who also publishes a subscription newsletter named Focus on Broadband Wireless Internet. I just discovered that he also maintains a fascinating weblog at www.strohpub.com/weblog. Definitely worth a visit."

June 2002:

• June 6, 2002 - PBS.com Technology columnist Robert X. Cringely - "There is a very good writer named Steve Stroh who specializes in wireless technology..."

May 2002:

• May 3, 2002 - David Isenberg writing in SMART Letter #71: "Steve Stroh is the perpetrator of the "Focus on Broadband Wireless Internet Access" newsletter, an in-depth review that gets it. The subscription fee is worth every penny -- contact [email protected]."

April 2002:

• April 11, 2002 - Andrew Kreig, President WCA International writing in the WCA Bulletin: Independent technology writer Steve Stroh again provided his unique blend of comprehensive and informative insights in his newsletter �Focus On Broadband Wireless Internet Access� released this week. Issue 5 of the 20-page report provides unmatched depth and insight on WCA�s Eighth Annual Technical Symposium, held this January in San Jose, CA. The newsletter continues to provide personal interpretations on industry developments that are worth knowing � and supporting.

February 2002:

• February 25, 2002 - Dana Blankenhorn's A-Clue.com - "Clued-in is Steve Stroh , whose understanding of the technical issues involving wireless broadband is first-rate and fine-grained. I'm thrilled to be on his beat."
• February 13, 2002 - Glenn Fleishman in his 802.11b Networking News Weblog (linked at left): "Focus On Broadband Wireless Internet Access: to the increasingly large group of people who talk sense about broadband wireless services, I have to add Steve Stroh. His subscription publication (linked above) is full of sensible advice born of deep technical and market knowledge. The yearly rate is advertised at $595 for 12 issues. Anyone trying to make a living, start a company, or run a division in which this is your market shouldn't hesitate before subscribing. Disclosures: I don't get a finder's fee for telling you this; I have a free subscription which was not a quid pro quo arrangement."

Steve Stroh

Copyright (c) 2002-2004 by Steve Stroh. This article originally appeared on my original Broadband Wireless Internet Access Weblog (in the stories section) hosted on Radio Userland.

Project Rainbow Revealed - Proposed National 802.11b Network (updated)

In the July 15, 2002 issue of the New York Times, John Markoff reveals the existence of "Project Rainbow", a project that considers creating a national 802.11b network for portable and mobile use. Partners in the venture include Intel, IBM, AT&T Wireless, Verizon, Cingular and unspecified others. Markoff states:

The discussions, which are code-named Project Rainbow and have been going on for the last eight months, envision a nationwide service that would provide on-the-go professionals and other Web surfers a unified way to reach the Internet from a wide range of "hot spots" like airports and other public places. It is not intended to supply broadband connections to customers' homes, an executive involved in the discussions said

From the cast of players, there's a little in this for everyone. IBM ties the network together. AT&T Wireless, Cingular, and Verizon provide the sites. Intel sells more end-user devices. And that's where this begins to fall down. To really make this work will require a bold pricing model and ubiquity. Alan Reiter, quoted in the article, concurs:

"I think it could jump-start the industry if all the components are in place," said Alan Reiter, publisher of Wireless Internet and Mobile Computing, a wireless data newsletter and consulting firm in Chevy Chase, Md. "That has been the problem with wireless: everything has to work well or consumers will reject it. You need the right pricing, the right devices and right locations."

I have no fear about the devices; that's being rapidly taken care of by the rapid emergence of 802.11b built-in to PDAs and 802.11b SD cards (which have emerged as the preferred form factor for PDA expansion cards.)

It's hard to imagine this cast of giant companies being willing to work together harmoniously enough, long enough to make this a reality. There will be way too much temptation to focus on the needs and fears of one or more companies. What happens when users begin making VOIP "telephone calls" from Project Rainbow hot spots? If they're enlightened, they'll realize this is incremental revenue.

If Project Rainbow somehow survives its formative stages, then it becomes a technical problem - how to scale so many 802.11b APs to provide ubiquitous coverage? There are many, with perfect validity, that argue that you shouldn't try - that 802.11b isn't the right technology for this purpose. It's notable that Metricom's (now Aerie Networks) Ricochet system was widely perceived as a "good enough" solution to the scaling problem that Project Rainbow will face, and used a lower data rate (128 - 256 Kbps) and completely different technology (FHSS) and spectrum (902-928 MHz band) to achieve it. Other "waiting in the wings... just add spectrum and money" technologies are ArrayComm's iBurst system now being deployed in Australia, IPWireless' system using MMDS spectrum, using PCS channels as data-only as Monet Mobile Networks is doing, Flarion Technologies... and others.

But, it sounds like Intel, from the tone of the article is the formative influence of the group, understands clearly that the end-goal is to address the enormous opportunity that will soon emerge when PDAs are equipped with 802.11b capability. It's 802.11b that, for better or worse, must be accomodated. I liken this problem to the continued existence of serial and parallel ports on the average PC - there are much, much better ways to communicate between peripherals... but it took the better part of two decades for a next-generation communications link - USB, to achieve ubiquity. Ubiquity trumps technical elegance, and Intel, having driven USB into ubiquity, understands that better than most.

What would it take for Project Rainbow to become reality? That's an easy call - money. Lots of patient money. Billions... think Microsoft, with its cash hoard of $35B or so.

Update - July 16 - Alan Reiter in his July 16th entry in Reiter's Wireless Data Web Log weighs in with a thoughtful analysis of the prospects and likely perils of Project Rainbow. Infoworld weighs in with some additional comments.

Steve Stroh

Copyright © 2002-2004 by Steve Stroh. This article originally appeared on my original Broadband Wireless Internet Access Weblog hosted on Radio Userland.

FCC SPTF Announces Public Workshops

FCC's Spectrum Policy Task Foce Announces Public Workshops On Issues Related To Commission's Spectrum Policies - These workshops are the next phase of the SPTF's work on FCC Docket 02-135. The workshop issues and dates are:

• Experimental Licenses and Unlicensed Spectrum - August 1st
• Interference Protection - August 2nd
• Spectrum Efficiency - August 5th
• Spectrum Rights and Responsibilities - August 9th

All of the workshops will be held from 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM in the Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC. Panelists are currently being invited and additional information will be provided in a subsequent public notice. Audio/Video coverage of the workshops will be broadcast live over the Internet from the FCC website at www.fcc.gov/realaudio. For further information, contact Lauren Van Wazer at 202-418-0030 voice, 202-418-1744 fax, and e-mail [email protected].

Steve Stroh

Copyright © 2002-2004 by Steve Stroh. This article originally appeared on my original Broadband Wireless Internet Access Weblog hosted on Radio Userland.

IT Wireless Magazine To Debut In Fall, 2002

[IT Wireless Magazine] looks promising for in-depth coverage of enterprise use of Wireless LANs. There are hints on the web site that they're at least aware of non-LAN Broadband Wireless Internet Access, so we'll see. More at their web page - www.it-wireless.com.

Steve Stroh

Copyright © 2002-2004 by Steve Stroh. This article originally appeared on my original Broadband Wireless Internet Access Weblog hosted on Radio Userland.