Wave Wireless products start to mesh

Wave Wireless Networks has taken the second step in the evolution of its fixed broadband wireless product line by shipping a broadband wireless router that offers building-to-building, multipoint and mesh configurations. Additionally, the Speedlan 9000 routers are “competitive-agnostic” and can work as pieces of non-Wave Wireless networks.

“If a client has one of my competitor’s 802.11b radios deployed, and has line-of-sight from Building A to Building B but can’t see Building C and would like to pick up a customer in that building, they can add our mesh technology onto their existing radio,” said Bill Davis, Wave Wireless president and COO. “That’s a serious breakthrough as far as we’re concerned.”

Implementing the mesh technology allows wireless signals to hop from building to building within a half-mile radius in a commercial environment and within a quarter-mile for residential, typically multidwelling units. The lower distances in the residential space are needed to bring the products to a cost point that is acceptable to multi-dwelling units, Davis said.

Data rates are “somewhat application-dependent,” he said, although the company benchmarks against typical wireless rates that range from 2.5 to 5.5 Mb/s. The routers work in MMDS, LMDS and unlicensed spectrums, Davis said.

“Not only are they more powerful [than a version introduced in June that used a star networking technology], but we extend the capability of the wireless product line to include a non line-of-sight capability,” he said.

Previous versions of the 9000 product line can be upgraded to the mesh architecture through a firmware upgrade available on the Wave Wireless Web site, Davis said.

Wave Wireless, which is a division of Speedcom Wireless, emphasizes outdoors, building-to-building connectivity, Davis said.

“We’ve stayed away from the indoor building-to-building environment and really specialize in the outdoor marketplace,” he said.