Another water tower install earlier this year for a client. To critique our own work the cables were moved under the mounts after these pictures were taken. this was done to minimize damage to the cables.
Category Archives: Wireless
WISP Tower leasing Resources
The following are leasing companies that I have worked with on securing vertical real-estate over the years. This is not a total list of tower companies. If you provide co-location services to Wireless ISPs and want to be included please reach out to me. Donations motivate me to update these lists. Ones with a Star next to them are WISP friendly from our dealings.
American Tower
https://www.americantower.com/
Clearview Tower
http://clearviewtower.squarespace.com/
Crown Castle
https://www.crowncastle.com/
Heartland Tower
http://www.heartlandtower.com/
Insite Wireless
https://insitewireless.com/
Melody Wireless
http://www.melodywireless.com/
MidAmerica Towers
https://midamericatowers.com/
Nexus Towers
https://nexustowers.com/
Subcarrier Communications
https://www.subcarrier.com/
Tillman Infrastructure
https://www.tillmaninfrastructure.com/
TowerCO
https://www.towerco.com/TowerSearch
Towersites.com
https://tower-sites.com/
Tower Ventures
https://towerventures.com/
Vertical Bridge
http://www.verticalbridge.com/
United States-based WISP distributors
The following is an extensive list of distributors who sell products related to the Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) space. This not a total list, but an extensive list. If you are not on this list or want to add your own description then donations are always welcome. It takes time to make these lists and there is nothing more motivating than some Paypal donations (https://paypal.me/j2sw).
- ISP Supplies
Texas-based distributor carrying a big number of product lines such as Cambium, Mikrotik, Airspan, and many others - Baltic Networks
- CTIconnect
- Double Radius
- FlyTec
- Last Mile Gear
- LinkTechs
- Microcom
- MultiLink
- Roc Noc
- StreakWave
- Surplus Wireless Gear
- TeleTronics
- Tessco
- Wav Wireless
- WinnCom
- WLANMall
Last Updated: 10 January 2020
Justin’s List of xISP vendors and resources
I have been working on this list for a while. The following are vendors, manufacturers, and various companies I have dealt with in my career as an ISP owner and consultant. This is not a complete list by any means. These are companies I have dealt with personally and/or are sponsors of this site. Companies with the are ones that support this blog and I personally recommend. I don’t recommend them just because they support this blog, but because they provide a good product or service. If you would like to be included on this list please contact me as I am working on more detailed lists per category. This is a starting point for those looking to narrow down some focus of their research.
Distributors
ISP Supplies
Texas-based distributor carrying a big number of product lines such as Cambium, Mikrotik, Airspan, and many others
Baltic Networks
Chicagoland based distributor carrying product lines such as Mikrotik, Cambium, and others.
CTIconnect
Distributor of fixed wireless and telecommunications infrastructure for Internet Service Providers (ISP’s), Cable Operators, Telephone Companies
Billing
Azotel
Mature billing solution which can
manage all aspects of your ISP.
Sonar
Modern Billing software with many backend automation
VISP
Automation and control of your WISP customers
More Billing providers can be found at xISP billing platforms
Manufacturers
Baicells
LTE and CBRS based solutions
Cambium Networks
Manufacturer of fixed wireless products such as EMP, 450, and cnPilot wireless.
Mikrotik
Manufacturer of Mikrotik routers and RouterOS routing and switching products
Ubiquiti
Manufacturer of WISP and WIFI products. Product lines include AirFiber and Unifi.
Tower Related
TowerOne
Training and equipment to keep climbers and companies compliant and safe. Large selection of needed items such as Harnesses and rope related items for tower work.
Voice
Atheral
Unified communications with experts to help you migrate and stay compliant. Here is a link to a podcast I did with Ateral.
True IP Solutions
Unified communications solutions integrated
with access and camera solutions.
Training
Rick Frey
mikrotik training and certification as well
as consulting and integrations solutions
LinkTechs
Training on Mikrotik and distributor of related products
More info on training for the xISP
Supporting Services
TowerCoverage
RF Mapping and Modeling for tower sites and customer pre-qualification
Wireless Mapping
Radio Mapping, two-way radio, mark study information, and Municipal broadband.
IntelPath
Microwave and Millimeter Wavechannel procurement.
Organizations, web-sites, and groups
WISPA
Trade Organization supporting Wireless Internet Service Providers=
Cambium Users group on Facebook
YouTube Channels
TheBrothersWISP
Networking, ISP, and related topics
Did I forget you? Would you like to sponsor this blog and your name listed? Contact me for more information.
Video: ISP Design Pain Points and redundancy
Siklu Case study 80 GHZ Indianapolis Indiana
Some photos from a Siklu 80GHZ deployment in Downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. This was deployed by On-Ramp Indiana (https://www.ori.net). The problem being solved is moving video files around a network in order to get it to smart screens and projectors. This is a very urban area and wireless was pretty much the only option to get from building to building.
Siklu 80GHZ was on the shortlist due to the distances involved. Another consideration was the footprint of the equipment. The equipment had to be as low profile as possible.
Another needed aspect of this network was the ability to move traffic around at layer 2. Not all traffic is IP based in this type of network.
Equipment used
Ether Haul 1200FX
https://www.siklu.com/product/etherhaul-kilo-series/
Some technical Details
As you can see traffic is reasonably consistent in the 80-100 meg range. We needed a solution that did not slow down due to interference. A possible 10’s of thousands of visitors to this attraction in a weekend, reliability and performance were critical. When this was installed we did not know about COVID, but this is an attraction people can enjoy from their cars and social distancing. This use added to the visibility of this attraction, thus making the reliability even more crucial.
Articles about the finished product
https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/monument-circle-get-new-light-show-time-holidays/531-ef1819ca-5f27-4886-9283-17e481c33f39
On-Ramp Indiana Contacts www.ori.net 317.774.2100
WISPs: IPv6 is the answer to some of your issues
Many Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs), especially newer startups, struggle with nat issues and having enough public Ip addresses to go around. Invariably, you start running into double nat issues pretty quickly. Then you get the dreaded gamer call:
Many times they don’t know why they are even calling. They just know the magic box is saying this is bad. This is related to how many layers of nat between your edge and them. Many times you are natting at the edge, then you are natting at the customer router. If you have multiple customers behind the same nat at the edge this compounds it even more.
So what is the fix? Give the customer public addresses. But IPv4 is hard to get! I didn’t say IPV4 I said public addresses. IPv6 is a public address. When given the choice between v4 and v6 most modern streaming and gaming platforms will prefer v6. Xbox has supported a protocol called Teredo for a long time. You can learn all about Teredo in this PDF. Basically, it is a tunnel in which the Xbox speaks ipv6 over the tunnel. The ISP does not have to support v6, which does away with the above-mentioned nat issues.
Great! I don’t have to worry about IPv6, Microsoft has it taken care of for me. There are two problems with this statement. Problem number one. There are more companies out there than Microsoft. Sony Playstation Online, Apple gaming, and Steam are just a few. Second, you have overhead of tunnels. In the world of who can pull the joystick quicker, milliseconds count. You don’t want them wasted in tunnel overhead. Plus, v6 is beneficial for other service such as Netflix.
Any other service that runs into port issues behind nat can be solved with Ipv6, This can be voip, cameras, and other type services. This is providing the product or service supports v6 addresses.
So what is an ISP to do?
Awhile back I put together a resource guide for ISPs. You can find it at https://blog.j2sw.com/networking/ipv6/ipv6-planning-and-implementation-resources-for-the-xisp/
PTP Backhaul Complete link kit #1
I have been asked a few times on what I would pick for a PTP link. here is what I would recommend as option #1. You can use the RF Elements link planner to judge how far you can go. If you want to dive deeper you can use the Cambium LinkPlanner, which is a download. This is an unlicensed 5GH link. if you want some real-world data on this link you can visit https://blog.j2sw.com/xisp/the-addition-of-rf-elements-horns-to-a-ptp550-link/
2x Cambium PTP 550
https://www.ispsupplies.com/Cambium-Networks-C050055H001A
PTP 550 Data Sheet
2x RF Elements Ultrahorn
https://www.ispsupplies.com/RF-Elements-UH-CC-5-24
Ultrahorn Data Sheet
4x LMR Jumpers
https://www.ispsupplies.com/NM-NM-L4-36
8x Cold Shrink
https://www.ispsupplies.com/COLDSHRINK-12MDN
There are several other distributors to buy from as well. I choose ISP supplies because they refer business to me and do not have a consulting program that competes with my services.
RF elements Asymmetrical horn antenna
Some pictures of the RF elements A Symmetrical horn and it’s components.
Horvath Communications offers free tower co-lo
In an effort to alleviate the ramifications of COVID-19, Horvath Towers V will be offering free tower co-location to rural broadband service providers for a period of six months.
“With so many families working and learning from home,” company President Jackie Horvath told Inside Towers, “the demand for wireless internet access has sky-rocketed. As such, we would like to partner with rural internet service providers to allow co-location on our tower assets on a temporary basis.”
Applications will be accepted between now and May 1. All inquiries are to be sent to ehorvath@horvathcommunications.com. As part of this program, the broadband provider will be responsible for the cost of installation and the equipment. The installation team must provide proper insurance before climbing the tower.
https://www.horvathcommunications.com/ has a map with a site list