By Claus Hetting, WiFi NOW CEO & Chairman
Outdoor Wi-Fi is a growth segment in many parts of the world – but deployment is often hampered by lack of appropriate AP site locations, poor AP aesthetics, and insufficient knowledge about deployment solutions. Oberon says the use of wireless bollards is transforming how outdoor Wi-Fi networks are deployed. The right positioning of bollards boosts Wi-Fi service quality and availability for campus networks everywhere, the company says.
Extending Wi-Fi coverage to the outdoors is becoming more and more important at corporate business locations, educational campuses, hotels & resorts, MDUs, large events, public transportation hubs, entertainment venues, and more – and most expect the trend to expand as the outdoor use of the new 6 GHz band for standard power Wi-Fi (including AFC) intensifies.
But while indoor Wi-Fi deployments are fairly standard procedure, outdoor Wi-Fi presents a new set of challenges. Using wireless bollards is the simplest and most scalable way to extend campus networks, particularly in green spaces where walls or poles for AP mounting are scarce, Oberon says.
“Many designers, building owners, and IT professionals are tasked with deploying high density outdoor Wi-Fi infrastructure as the market continues to take on a “Wi-Fi everywhere” model. The business objective is to make the establishment more attractive by offering reliable Wi-Fi everywhere and failure to do so could be detrimental to the business. In some cases inadequate outdoor Wi-Fi coverage – for example in areas close to buildings where users congregate – can even place an additional unwanted strain on indoor networks,” says Jeffrey Doyle, VP Global Sales at Oberon.
He also says that preparing for the physical installation of the outdoor edge equipment like Wi-Fi APs and associated components is a challenge in particular for outdoor areas where light poles and building structures may not be available and where rooftops are too high or too remote to deliver the right coverage.
“Many campuses feature either modern or historic architecture, and integrating modern technology such as Wi-Fi into these settings is a unique challenge. The goal is to provide reliable Wi-Fi coverage in these environments while also satisfying crucial aesthetic and equipment protection requirements,” he says.
Jeffrey Doyle says universities and other enterprise-type facilities have already been deploying wireless bollards by the tens of thousands. The units themselves are large enough to house an AP, antennas, a switch, a PoE injector, and more. The bollard’s synthetic materials are virtually transparent to Wi-Fi signals. And it’s often reasonably easy to install them in ideal locations from a network planning point of view.
“It’s reasonably simple to configure a wireless bollard solution to contain your preferred AP and it is also generally low cost. They can even be used in indoor areas – such as malls, lobbies, and entrance ways – where it is otherwise hard to get close to the users from AP locations on roofs or walls,” Jeffrey Doyle says. He also points out that the increasing popularity of Wi-Fi offload (using Passpoint auto-connect technology) is likely to make outdoor Wi-Fi networks even more useful and effective as a form of densification to complement cellular 4G or 5G networks.
“The truth is that outdoor wireless services are integral components of business today. We’re grateful and excited that Oberon has quickly become the industry’s preferred solution for wireless network installation components and antennas. We believe that’s because our solutions meet installation, protection and aesthetic requirements in a cost-effective way,” he says.
For more about Oberon NetPoint™ wireless bollards read here.
/Claus.
