Strix Provides 'Ski-Mail' Access

By Erik Linask

Associate Editor,
Internet Telephony magazine

 

Wireless mesh network provider Strix Systems has been signed by SnowSports Interactive, the Australian ski and snowboard technology company, to deploy Strix’s Access/One Network Outdoor Wireless Systems (OWS) and Indoor Wireless Systems (IWS).  The new installation at Mt. Buller Alpine Ski Resort, one of Australia’s foremost ski destinations, will mark the first Australian ski resort-wide wireless network. 

 

SnowSports Interactive will deploy its recently unveiled whispar wireless system, which is based entirely on Strix Access/One products, at Mt. Buller.  The wireless network will enhance the overall resort experience by providing multimedia Internet access to all visitors and skiers.  Resort guests will be able to surf the Web, check e-mail, and access corporate networks from their PDAs, WiFi (News - Alert) enabled phones, or laptops from anywhere in the 650-acre resort.

 

SnowSports Interactive, which develops high-tech solutions for the skiing and snowboarding industry, assessed several alternatives before concluding that Strix’s multi-radio, multi-channel, multi-RF solution was the only wireless system that could withstand the harsh alpine environment at Mt. Buller, while still providing coverage at locations around the mountain with restricted lines of sight.

 

Strix’s modular, multi-radio architecture allows for simple configuration and automatic self-tuning of radios within a node, providing a customizable approach to deploying wireless mesh that ensures the highest performance, even across the resort’s mountainous terrain, deep basins, and large valleys, which are otherwise not conducive to deploying a wireless network.

 

Strix’s Access/One products provide high throughput and low latency mesh networking capable of supporting the latest voice, video, and data applications.  An Access/One network includes built-in redundancy generally not available in other access point or switch products — and something that is a necessity in the harsh wintry conditions on any ski mountain.  Intelligence is distributed throughout the network, eliminating single points of failure, and network congestion or radio interference can be circumvented, ensuring that the Access/One Network is operating optimally at all times.

 

What’s more, the Strix network is designed to scale as needs change.  Modular hardware means quite literally that — new technologies can be added as simply as snapping on a module.  Expanded coverage areas are added by powering up nodes, applying the existing configuration, and accepting them into the network.  Because of the network’s mesh attributes, it is the ideal solution in an area that not only has inconsistent terrain, but also does not have ubiquitous wired Ethernet.  What’s more, because the Access/One network supports today’s next-gen applications, customers can save even more by deploying a converged wireless voice and data network. 

 

“SnowSports Interactive was looking for a wireless network that deploys easily and that could simultaneously run a broad range of applications without having any negative impact on existing services,” said Steve Kenny, Managing Director of SnowSports Interactive.  “Strix’s OWS and IWS solutions were easy to deploy quickly, and we can upgrade the system ourselves seamlessly as Strix introduces new products and capabilities.  Strix also provides superior throughput over multiple hops, which is essential in a ski-resort terrain where wiring nodes for backhaul is nearly impossible.”

 

The Access/One Network supports all wireless LAN standards (802.11a, b, g), including the proprietary high speed versions, so maximum wireless network performance of up to 108 mbps is achieved. 

 

Once complete, the network will provide substantial coverage in the Mt. Buller Village area as well as across the skiable terrain, which includes a network of 25 lifts capable of moving more than 40,000 people per hour around the Resort’s 50 miles of groomed trails.  Mt. Buller also has more on-mountain accommodation than any other Australian resort, with over 7,000 beds available in the Alpine Village, which will also have access to the network resources.