The Opportunity and Challenges of WISP S

The Opportunity and Challenges of WISP’s

Mark Levetzow Computer Science Department University of Wisconsin-Platteville [email protected]

Abstract

According to the United States Census, about 25% of the population live in rural areas. But Internet Service Providers simply do not have the costs to spread cable access throughout rural areas. These companies themselves have begun using wireless capabilities to reach more customers, however, this technology also provides the opportunity for any person with the money and know how to bring high speed internet access to his area, or neighboring areas for that matter, and turn a profit as well.

But, becoming a WISP entrepreneur is not as easy as one, two three. This paper will reveal the equipment, costs, regulations, and strategies a person must understand beforehand. Pros and cons exist, and must be weighed to determine if becoming a WISP for an area is not only plausible, but also profitable.

What is wireless?

Basically, wireless involves transmitting data between devices that are not physically connected. Devices can range from satellite configurations, to PDAs and wireless routers. The communication can occur at short range using infrared technology, at a wider range using a high-speed wireless LAN within a building, miles apart using radio waves, or all the way to the other side of the earth using satellites. Cell phones are easily the one wireless application that is the most popular.

Wireless technology aims to give mobile persons and other users access to information anywhere. More often than not, people are on the go, and need their Internet capabilities to go with them. Wireless technology has kept people in touch with their business, their studies, and even their families from virtually anywhere on the planet.

What is a WISP?

A WISP stands for a Wireless Internet Service Provider. A WISP starts from an area with cable access to the Internet, which is referred to as the WISP backbone. The backbone is like a larger version of a wireless network in a home. It will have an established Internet connection through a reliable provider, a router, UPS port, and some type of cable line adequate for the customer’s needs, be it a DSL cable, or the more expensive T1 cable, or any other type. The Internet connection is then channeled into a 2.4GHz radio frequency, and channeled out of the radio antennae, to other access points, or point-of-presence spots, and receivers at customer’s homes or office buildings. From here, the customer has a router in the home to receive the frequency, and pass the connection on to any computer’s in the home that are in synch with that router, either via direct wired link up, or a wireless network card. Access points need to be elevated as high as possible, because direct line-of-sight to the receivers is required for the connection to work.

There are literally hundreds of established WISP’s setup throughout the United States. Some serving the provider’s local neighbors, while others have turned it into a big business, providing coverage over hundreds of square miles, and serving thousands of customers. Many of these larger providers offer more features, such as voice-over IP, VPN, and even host-based email. These providers have become a lower level ISP themselves, connected to the vast web of the Internet with their own servers and multiple routers connected to a higher-tier ISP.

The type of WISP can depend on the size of the WISP, or the number of access points. One access point from the main backbone that spreads out to receivers in the area is known as a hotspot. Hotspots are better for a condensed area of people, or small buildings. Many restaurants and cafes have begun using hotspots as a selling point to get business, by providing wireless internet access to their customers. Large ISP’s, like Verizon, have begun using hotspots in urban areas, selling network adapter cards to allow users to access their VPN, and further securing non-customers from freeloading. But most public hotspots in hotels and cafes lack any type of data encryption, and don't bother with filtering their IP address. “After all, turning on any of these functions would negate the "public" aspect of hotspots.”[2]

The more appealing option is a point-to-point connection, where the antennae at the backbone of the operation sends the signal to another antennae at a distant location, and both now can provide the signal to their own nearby customers. The same concept applies in point-to-multi-point networking, where a signal is spread to any number or relay access points. It is with these two types of wireless networking that the Internet connection is turned into a radio wave frequency, and that is where the IEEE’s rules and regulations come into play. Figure E: What WISP looks like.

IEEE 802.11

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers or IEEE is an international non- profit organization for the advancement of technology related to electricity. [1] They are the ones who define and standardize many of the activities related to computer science. The area of standards of 802 refers to standards of LAN’s and WAN’s, and 802.11 specifically focuses on wireless LANs and ISP’s. The 802.11 family currently includes six over-the-air modulation techniques that all use the same protocol. Wireless networks are run on either the 2.4GHz frequency, or the 5GHz frequency. “Because of this choice of frequency band, 802.11b and 802.11g equipment can incur interference from microwaves, cordless phones, and other appliances using this same band.” [1] The 802.11a standard uses the 5 GHz band, and is therefore not affected by products operating on the 2.4 GHz band. The amendments 802.11a, b, and g are the one’s most popular in relation to Wi-Fi communications. These amendments then set the standard for equipment to be created that follow these guidelines. Amendment a follows the 5GHz frequency, which is used less frequently in wireless technology, so our focus will be on b and g.

Amendment 802.11b was established in 1999 [1], and allows for a maximum bit rate of 11 Mbits per second. While 802.11g, which was a new amendment in 2003, increased this maximum bit rate of 54 Mbits per second, and became the new b, as .11g equipment could work with .11b equipment. These standards are what companies follow in creating network adapters, routers, hubs, switches, and radio antennae for wireless Internet to pass over. While most routers in this group has a limited range, proper antennas can pass the frequency up to 5 miles, and even great distances farther provided direct line of sight, and lack of interference from other devices that operate on this band.

FCC Regulations

The FCC regulates the radio waves, and with wireless networking running on radio waves, they have designed specifics for them. For example, they have two types of services for radio waves: Licensed and Unlicensed. Unlicensed signals are allowed for smaller devices, such as garage door openers, cordless phones, and LANs. These unlicensed signals have no protection from the FCC from interference from each other on frequencies, and with so many products using the cheap, unlicensed radio waves, it can get crowded in the air. Also, any interference caused from unlicensed equipment on licensed equipment will result in the interfering equipment to be forced to be taken down. Licensed equipment has protection from interference, but it cannot be any equipment the user likes. It must be equipment that is authorized by the FCC. Most signals on the 2.4 GHz frequency are unlicensed, which is good for WISPs, which then don’t have to take on the costs of getting certified by the FCC. Radio Transmission

Radio technology has two main parts, the transmitter and the receiver. The transmitter takes some form of information, whether it’s a TV picture, or phone message, or an Internet connection, and encodes it as a sine wave and transmits it with radio waves. The receiver receives the radio waves and decodes the message from the sine wave it receives. Both the transmitter and receiver use antennas to radiate and capture the radio signal [7]. In a WISP, the radio antennae at the location of the network backbone transmits the Internet connection to the other antennae’s in the WISP, who in turn transmit outward towards receivers.

Line-of-Site

Radio signals travel in straighter lines as frequency increases, there is more wiggle room for being out of site the lower on the frequency spectrum a radio wave is. That is why radio stations, which operate between 30 MHz and 300 MHz can travel greater distances. Their wave lengths are able to bend more than larger frequencies, such as the 2.4 GHz level. That is why wireless technology has a much shorter range of travel over radio waves, because it is hard to maintain direct sight between receivers.

From the beginning

The very first thing to consider in becoming a WISP is to make sure there are customers! Remember, it’s not supply OR demand. Just because you build it, doesn’t mean they will come. Ask around the area, or send out a flyer asking if residents would be interested in your business. Next surveying the land, picking out elevated areas where to place access points, and insuring that there are no radio interference issues in the area. With the 2.4 GHz frequency being an unlicensed, and therefore cheap frequency to run on, many products are run on this band, and interference can be common place. It is key to find areas with minimal interference, and a reasonable distance from your backbone setup. In rural areas, these can include grain bins, silos, existing radio towers, and even a tall hillside overlooking a broad area. Any of these spots can raise the same questions. Can the ideal elevated areas be used as access points? By that, will the person who owns the property allow usage, and at what cost?

For a small WISP, negotiating with the owner of the elevated property can save a lot of money simply by giving the property owner free or discounted Internet access for allowance of a radio access point on their land. If renting the space for your dish antennae is required, expect to empty the wallet. Depending on who, or what company owns the property, monthly rental of space can range from $500 to $1000[3]. Greater costs can go into having to build a tower oneself, but then this built tower can be ensure to be free of any frequency activity that can be around existing towers.

Next, the equipment that is required at each of your access points. Radios and antennas for each point, an Ethernet switch to aggregate the traffic from the different points onto the backbone link, cables to link antennas, radios and switch, power—and some kind of backbone network link. Most of this equipment is going to have to make due through the elements, so ensure that this equipment is weather tested. The costs can range from $150- $1000 for the antennae, and more durable cable equipment, and the length required will tack on a few hundred more dollars.

Figure A. A 2.4 Ghz radio antennae with a 4 mile coverage radius

The individual customers will have a bit of expensive equipment on their premises as well. An Ethernet client device must be on site, and have direct view of one of the access points. These devices can cost between $200 and $300 [4]. These devices connect to the customers LAN in their homes via a router, which is another $50-$100. Add another $50 per wireless adapter card needed for computers or other items desired to be on the LAN, and you can see that $500 or more can be incurred per customer, unless you negotiate the customer incurring some of these costs.

Figure B: A typical client receiver. Figure C: A Linksys Desktop Figure D: Linksys Router Network card.

Next comes the issue of bandwidth, which is the amount of downloading and uploading files and web pages on the net. Knowing how many customers you plan to serve, and what they intend to use it for should play a crucial role in determining the amount of bandwidth you need to keep the WISP as fast as possible. But not waste bandwidth, as it is very expensive for higher levels of bandwidth. Expect to pay $25,000 to $45,000 for DS3 (45 Mbps), $60,000 to $70,000 for 100 Mbps and up to $200,000 for 1 gigabit per second [3].

Customer Advantages

The selling point for customers is that wireless technology has the potential to handle bit rates faster than direct cable because of the freedom of the airwaves, and most WISP’s provide their service at a cheaper rate than other providers, even if they were available to them. Many are even willing to take on the one-time extra costs of the equipment needed at their home, if it means a lightning fast Internet connection! Keeping fair prices is going to be what gets the ball rolling for a successful WISP.

Security

Of course, if it is simple for your wireless internet service to be accessible by just anyone, there will not be much profit to be had! Security is easily the most important issue that lurks around wireless networking, and there are many ways to make a network secure:

SSID (Service Set Identifier)

An SSID, or network name, is a name given to a wireless network. I put secret in inverted commas because it can be sniffed pretty easily. By default, the SSID is a part of every packet that travels over the WLAN. Unless you know the SSID of a wireless network you cannot join it. Every network node must be configured with the same SSID of the access point that it wishes to connect, which becomes a bit of a headache for the network administrator [6].

VPN (Virtual Private Network) Considered the most reliable form of security is setting up a VPN connection over the wireless network. VPNs have become the most effective and trusted method of accessing the a private network over the public network of the internet by forming a secure tunnel from the client to the server. Setting up a VPN may affect performance due to the amount of data encryption, but data will be secure. Hotspots use this technology if they wish to prevent unauthorized users from accessing the network, and ensuring that those who do use the network are protected. VPN is well received, because it offers the best commercially available encryption. “VPN software uses advanced encryption mechanisms which makes decrypting the traffic a very hard, if not impossible, task” [6]. Security cannot be left just to your connection alone, however. Your equipment out in the field needs to be secure as well, to keep it from being burglarized, or damaged. Safe boxes are yet another necessary expense in setting up a WISP.

Points of concern

A start-up WISP should not try and compete with established ISP’s. Any direct competition can result in a price war, a war a start-up cannot win. Furthermore, if the ISP is also the one providing you with the Internet your providing, you could see your service be dropped.

Bandwidth is expensive, so understand how and when your customers will be using the Internet, and for what, to get the right amount. It is too costly to overestimate your needs. However, buying too little bandwidth can slow down your promise of fast connection speeds, and lose customer faith while scrambling to improve the problem. The most common type of telecommunications circuit that a Wireless ISP (WISP) begins with is a T1 circuit, which carries full traffic at 1.5 Mbps. A T1 circuit usually can support a network of around 100-200 users depending on their bandwidth requirements. This doesn’t mean that all 200 subscribers can get a full 1.5 Mbps connection at the same time, in fact you should hope that all these subscribers aren’t online at the same time. “Most WISPs over subscribe their network on a 6:1 ratio. This means that for every six customers, only one of them will be online at a single point in time. So if you have 200 customers that would mean that normally only 33 would be online at one time. Now divide 1.5 Mbps by 33 and you’ll get around 45 Kilobits per second, which isn't much better than a dial-up connection.” [8] But one should never plan on everyone on the network using the Internet at exactly the same time, and those that are online not constantly uploading or downloading data.

The best way to know how much bandwidth you'll need is to use network monitoring tools that let you know when your users are approaching too much network congestion. Most network managers will set an alarm to go off when the network surpasses 70% congestion. This allows a manager time to order more bandwidth before users begin to experience 100% congestion.

Another draw back of most WISP systems is that the manufacturer builds proprietary systems. Meaning that only their equipment will work with their equipment. That is what separates a WISP from a hotspot. In a hotspot anyone can roam in to any network provided they have the secure clearance when they are in the coverage area., WISP systems do not allow roaming and prevent the provider from collecting any roaming customers that would be willing to pay during their time inside the coverage. It also means that if a WISP decides to switch manufacturers two years after they launched their network, all their old equipment will become obsolete and will need to be replaced. Not so bad in a simple neighborhood WISP, but with larger networks with hundreds of customers? That can get costly if an upgrade is either desired or needed. Once a WISP is set up, the job is only just beginning. Consistent testing of the network should be maintained, to ensure quality connections exist throughout. By now, the point should be getting home that this is not a one man job on a weekend venture. This takes money, and time to build a reliable infrastructure. The bigger a WISP is, the more of a full time job it can become, and the more workers required. But the rewards can also be just as great.

WiMAX – Future Technology

While WISP still has issues to sort out, WiMAX is being touted as the technology that could totally eliminate wired networks. In practical terms, WiMAX, short for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, would operate similar to WiFi but at higher speeds, over greater distances and for a greater number of users. WiMAX. And with slightly lower frequency transmission than even a WISP, it can have more acceptable non-line of sight transmissions. WiMAX could have the potential to handle 70 megabits per second [8], as opposed to 54 megabits per second with WiFi. And while current technology limits smaller antennas to 6 miles between access points at the most, WiMAX may be able to provide distance of 30 miles with minimal transmission slow down from interference between the two points.

Figure F: A rendition of a WiMAX antennae

Conclusion:

Wireless Internet Service Providers have sprung up all over the country, and as technology improves, this really has the potential to be the future of the Internet. However, the technology isn’t perfect, as the necessary line-of-site technology can still limit potential coverage areas. Here in Southwest Wisconsin, this is especially true, what with having so many hills and valleys and heavily forested areas to contend with. And although the equipment has become cheaper, the entire package for even the smallest of WISP’s can still be quite the investment. But governmental funding is available with the proper research, and any small business requires a capital risk in order to see profit. And there is profit to be made. Consider that if an access point is in a proper spot, it can handle between 100-200 customers [8]. $40 per customer, and the debt incurred for setup can really be eaten away at quickly. Not only that, costs to start up a wired ISP are outrageously higher, with all the cable that needs to be laid down over a vast area to reach the same number of people. Wireless technology continues to be a growing field, and gains popularity by the day. With the right technical know-how and support, becoming a WISP can become a successful career.

References:

1. Wikipedia.com

2. http://www.jiwire.com/wi-fi-security-traveler-hotspot-1.htm

3. http://www.isp-planet.com/fixed_wireless/business/2002/cost_part3.html

4. www.gnswireless.com

5. http://www.fcc.gov/osp/rural-wisp/welcome.html

6. http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Introduction-Wireless- Networking-Part3.html

7. www.howstuffworks.com

8. http://www.bbwexchange.com/wisps/