The Hindu Business Line : Friendly neighbourhood Wi-Fi

Much like Spiderman, Wireless Fidelity is now in action around city apartments, offering residents the convenience of constant Internet access from the comfort of home.

PROVIDING the connection - G.R.N. Somashekar

Booking a hotel recently, I stopped doodling across the various room rates on the page when one concierge said, "Free Wi-Fi."

I interrupted and asked him to repeat himself. His bemused voice said, "Internet, ma'am. It's included along with free breakfast and pick-up from airport."

Does this surprise you? Has wireless Internet become a mere utility service such as power or water in India? This can clearly be expected in a few years' time, considering the pace of adoption of wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) in the country.

The hospitality industry was one of the first adopters of wireless Internet in the country, with almost all 5-star hotels offering it in their lobbies.

Now, real-estate developers are looking seriously at Wi-Fi to construct wireless dwellings. Real-estate developer Mantri plans to offer Wi-Fi to `differentiate' itself from others.

IDEB's upcoming Doon Tower in Dehradun is expected to be a wireless campus. This is a new venture in alliance with the State Industrial Development Corporation of Uttaranchal and covers an area of 5 lakh sq.ft.

"There is a demand for wireless connectivity in IT parks. All our futuristic IT Parks will be giving priority to wireless infrastructure," says Durgesh Kumar Mishra, Senior Manager, Corporate Communication, IDEB Projects. "Consecutively, we could implement wireless connectivity in Delhi, and in Kashipur, Uttar Pradesh."

Airports are also offering wireless Internet `hotspots.' Mumbai international airport offers free wireless Internet for passengers, allowing them to stay in touch with family until the last boarding call.

Like Spidey's web

Wireless infrastructure does not harm the design and look of the building and is hence being preferred. Radio Frequency (RF) surveys, which map out the building area to ensure that connectivity is guaranteed even at corridors and at every nook and cranny, are being conducted, says Shivakumar G, Manager Marketing (Corporate), Kavveri Telecom Products, an antenna maker.

Apartment builders are putting up small boxes (access points) up on lamp posts, following the trend set by enterprises, universities and some government offices in going wireless. When set up, access points recognise and latch onto each other forming a connectivity mesh (like one of Spidey's webs).

When a DSL (digital subscriber line — provided by Internet service providers such as Tata Indicom, Bharti, BSNL or Hathaway) is connected to this network, the users are able to access the Internet.

Away with those cables

The advantages of such a wireless network within a building are many. Convenience and mobility are guaranteed. At the end of a day-long conference, you could surf the Net sitting on the king-size bed. Disengage the home computer from the walls. Throw those bulky Ethernet cables away. Use your PDA/smart phone to check mail while you walk to your car.

Wireless networks within apartment complexes can also open new worlds for service providers and advertisers, informs Sanjay Malpani, Engineering Manager, Wireless Networks and Business Unit, Global Development Center, Cisco Systems India. His team has many ideas for wireless networks inside apartments, and has set up one at Bangalore's high-flying Diamond District.

CISCO's PROJECT

Networking major Cisco began an alpha project at the residential complex in January this year to showcase its networking products: 973 apartments spread across 14.5 acres were enclosed in a network of 19 Aironet 1500 Series lwapp (Lightweight Access Point Protocol) WAPs and four of Cisco's Aironet 1300Series devices provided high-speed wireless bridges.

With this, residents enjoy free broadband Internet access (an Airtel Broadband DSL plugs into the network) via Wi-Fi enabled devices such as laptops from their homes or anywhere within the campus.

"Relaxing at the swimming pool or at the clubhouse, residents log onto the Internet. They find it a very useful service and have appreciated it," says P Bharanidharan, Facility Manager, Diamond District. He also finds that carrying his laptop across the site, with all information accessible immediately, is much more convenient than unplugging every time he moved from his office to the headquarters within the same property.

An average of 30 people use the network simultaneously. Peak hours are just before work — 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and after work — 8 p.m. to 12 a.m., says Dharniraj Sathyanarayana, Software/QA engineer, Global Development Centre, Cisco Systems India.

The Ethernet cables that were used before Cisco offered free Wi-Fi still continue to be in service, surprisingly. "Some residents are still unaware of the free Wi-Fi service being offered. About fifty per cent of them continue to use wired Internet connections. We have begun demos to explain how to access the wireless Internet," says Bharanidharan.

Future applications

Possible future applications, says Malpani, include video surveillance, access control by determining which cars belong to residents (tagging vehicles of residents with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips to help differentiate them from other vehicles), location-based services, replacing existing walkie-talkies and intercom with Voice over IP phones, collaborative gaming, and more.

IPTV can also be easily offered with such a backbone in place. "The network will be easy to configure, debug, and secure with intrusion-detection mechanisms," he says.

Universities also prefer such a Wi-Fi mesh network as it allows the management to `split' the network into profiles — one for the students, with limited access to data/slower speeds, and another for the lecturers. Billing can also be flexible and service providers can mix and match tariffs. Guests and visitors could also log into the wireless network at such buildings.

"When he signs at the security desk, the guest could be given a password, which would let him access the network through a separate secure tunnel, ensuring that the occupants' laptops are not affected," says Malpani.

WIRELESS CLAUSTROPHOBIA?

However, within a building, there are some issues a wireless user can expect to face, such as signal loss, interference and security. But these are easily remedied, say wireless product makers. While setting up a network, wireless access points need to be positioned correctly.

Each access point has a range of 200 ft, and its omni-directional antenna picks up signals from a wireless-enabled device whether in the basement or indoors or outdoors.

"While setting up the network, the provider must ensure that signal level is constant throughout the building," says Shivakumar of Kavveri.

And if you are worried about interference caused by the radio, microwave, cordless phone and Bluetooth devices at home, Malpani of Cisco assures, "Wi-Fi is designed to handle interference. It detects when there is interference and resends the packets so data transmission is flawless."

Since Wi-Fi is deployed in a free band (universally, 2.4 GHz - 5GHz frequency has been allotted for Wi-Fi transmission), neighbours can peep in on your surfing with the right (or is it wrong?) software.

"This is where the service provider steps in to put up firewalls and keep track of users' machines. Security must be guaranteed to the residents," says Shivakumar of Kavveri.

CITY UNWIRED

When wireless Internet goes outside the building, into the park, and then envelopes the city, that is when the dance of different wireless technologies begins.

Wi-Fi mesh is expected to offer distribution in small pockets, while a superior wireless transmission method called WiMAX will provide the scalability and reliability of a citywide network.

Once you have the apartments/campus/geography connected well by WiMAX, these technologies will serve as distribution aids, says Ravichandran, Director, Product Marketing, Telsima, a telecom equipment maker.

WiMAX delivers broadband at a low cost on a licensed band with the facility to configure and deliver multiple services securely. However, WiMAX is yet to arrive and meanwhile, Wi-Fi hotspots and meshes are cropping up.

preethij@thehindu.co.in

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