Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deliverable bandwidth and speed?

Wireless equipment today can provide bandwidths from fractional T1 to 100 mbs full duplex (both ways). The limiting factor is the user's needs and budget restraints.

Can you deliver data, voice and full motion video?

Yes. Data and voice is very common. Voice takes very little bandwidth with quality VoIP products. We at CKC don't offer video products but if you implement any of our wireless links with appropriate bandwidth, video QOS is assured. Most video is IP and hence can be a part of the datastream. Adding voice and video enhances the ROI of your wireless telecommunications investment.

Is a Line-of-Sight required? What are the allowable obstructions?

To ensure reliable wireless communications, a line of sight (LOS) is required. Links can be established without LOS but they can be unreliable because they rely on friendly reflections of the radio wave from structures that can change with surface temperatures and atmospheric densities. Why can you hear your AM-FM radio or watch TV inside your house or office? These signals are transmitted at a much lower frequency that wireless telecomm devices. Wireless telecomm typically transmits at one hundredth of a watt to four watts maximum in the licensed bands. Obviously, NO obstructions are allowed.

What is the distance I can use Wireless between points?

For low power, higher bandwidth, unlicensed equipment, about 10 miles is a good rule of thumb. Some older licensed lower frequency (900 mhz) we have installed with bandwidths of 128 kbps have 30 mile paths. 30 mile paths are also possible in higher bandwidths but require licensed frequencies where higher power and larger gain antennas are permissible.

How does weather affect wireless transmissions?

Weather can cause problems with radio signals. Everyone has experienced reception problems on their TV and AM/FM radios. Wireless telecommunications equipment operates in very high frequency bands, several orders of magnitude higher than broadcast channels. A properly designed wireless network will be engineered to provide adequate fade margins to maintain a solid link during these conditions.

Concatenation?

Wireless links can be connected in a series of daisy chain connections to meet the particular distance requirement you need. There is negligible latency in these connections so you could put as many links in series that is cost effective.

Maintenance?

Most wireless applications are mission critical thus high reliability is desired. The equipment we install is of the highest quality, most with MTBF of ~ 60,000 hours. Wireless equipment uses very low power output transmitters which reduces the stress on the applicable components. Lightning and power surges are the primary causes of equipment failure. All of our installations include lightning protection on the transmission line to keep spikes out of the transceiver. We also provide line conditioning in the surge protection along with UPS and 10Base T line protection.

Maintenance Contracts?

Normally "Service as Required" is the most economical way to maintain your wireless network. Annual checks are recommended to check connections, antenna shifts, data throughput, etc. to correct any degradation that may have occurred. We have various programs we can tailor to fit everyone's comfort level and budget.

Resource Sharing?

Wireless networks can be shared. All data packets are addressed and routed so with appropriate firewalls a network can be shared. Today's wireless networks have enough bandwidth to allow this. However, most users prefer not to share and risk an unwanted intrusion.

Security

Wireless is more secure than wire. Security provisions exist on different levels, depending on manufacturer, allowing a highly secure network to be deployed. Frequency hopping spread spectrum protects reception of raw radio transmissions. Proprietary firmware, physical layer, algorithms and protocols protect the decoding of raw radio transmission, if somehow it was received. Authentication features prevent unauthorized remotes from accessing the network. Static route tables ensure that remote sites only receive packets destined for their local networks. Due to these features, the radio network is usually more secure than the wire line network it is connected to.

Local Telco Requirement

None required.

Disaster Recovery

Whether your network is wire or wireless, a workable disaster recovery plan should be in place. Each network is unique in these requirements.

Primary use... Private networks... Internet Access?

All of above. Wireless internet is probably what you hear the most about today. Wireless internet is short range and lower bandwidth primarily for residential/SOHO users who want more bandwidth and want to be on-line all the time. We only deploy private networks. We do provide backbone and internet back haul for wireless internet providers but not the actual distribution equipment.

The Future of Wireless

Technology will always advance at various rates. The competitive goal will be to deliver faster throughput than the last generation. It is your consultant's job to determine what is best for you. There is no need to buy more bandwidth than you need now or in the near future. A licensed 100 mbps link will run $50,000 when an 8 mbps link at $10,000 may be all you need.

Bandwidth Auctions

The bandwidth auctions are in the cellular phone and specialized mobile radio area of the spectrum. Some MMDS channels were auctioned for metropolitan distribution. These channels are not available for general private network use.

Financial - How acquired

So far, all of our sales have been cash. We have leasing available. Multiple or cooperative buying would be up to the parties involved.

What is the procedure; how do I find out if Wireless is for me?

The first thing to consider is need. How much bandwidth do you need for your LAN extension? Are leased lines available at a reasonable cost with the speed that you need? Wire line costs have come down in recent years, primarily due to competitive pressure from wireless providers.

If you call us, tell us what your needs are, we can do "Quick Checks" to see if the links are possible or practical. We can also give you a budgetary quote. If it sounds like something that the payback could be there, then an Engineering / Feasibility study needs to be performed. We come to your area, do terrain studies, microwave path analysis and network budget analysis with signal strength predictions. All paths must be driven to ensure no man made obstacles are in the path that would block the signal.

The Engineering report is not vendor biased. Someone has to do the engineering so you can present the report to any vendor for a quote. We, of course, will provide a detailed quote for our offering.