Thunderbird Broadband Blogs - Aspen Installs, fun with faulty hardware, Firetrail Road and Lake Loma

Location: Blogs Business at the Speed of Light (Aaron)
Posted by: AaronTBird	2/23/2007
We were out doing installs at Aspen today and everything was moving along just fine when suddenly...nothing happened. We were as mystified as you are. Our gear just stopped passing traffic. Unfortunately we were doing an install at the time so we spent a good hour troubleshooting the install untill we were finally able to track it back to the relay. Right about that time the hail turned to snow. We started replacing wires, switches, power supplies, anything we could think of we replaced and still no luck.As it turned out the radio that brings the main link into Aspen got too cold and the internal heater was not keeping up. I adjust the thermostat settings and we now have the system back online :) We go back to the location tomorrow to move the radio into a heated area, away from exposure to the elements. It set us behind schedule on a couple installs and delayed our Lake Bosworth test, but we will be caught up by early next week. I'm just glad we were able to find the problem and get it back online in a reasonable amount of time, it makes me gratefull that we have such an experienced team. In other news, we have received an SoS from residents on Firetrail Road and Lake Loma in the Tulalip/Marysville area. Apparently they have no internet service and would like to get Thunderbird. The topographical maps and radio software tests look promising, so if we can find a location without trees blocking the view we will be able to bring in service. We will go out for a site visit later next week, after we catch up on Aspen and Bosworth. If you are in a similar situation, don't hesitate to call. Until next time, Aaron

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Re: Aspen Installs, fun with faulty hardware, Firetrail Road and Lake Loma	By Rick Pierce on 2/24/2007
Thanks for taking a look at Firetrail Rd. in west Marysville area next week. Dial-up is causing brain damage. Wave Broadband and DSL are dead ends. Tulalip cable has been promising since Sept. 2006 but they have been having "problems" and are stuck in testing mode.

Re: Aspen Installs, fun with faulty hardware, Firetrail Road and Lake Loma

By Dale Jones on 2/24/2007

I was the first install Friday morning and experienced the mishap that Aaron mentioned. I was able to go online and surf “AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT” and WOW what a difference. I contacted Aaron when I lost connection and he explained to me what he thought the problem was. He said it would probably be tomorrow before I would be able to get back online. Then around 930 PM he called a stated the problem was fixed…and it was.
This Thunderbird Team is a true bunch of professionals with all the expertise necessary to complete the Aspen project. The installation was skillfully done after a lot of deliberation was done as to where to install the receiver. The signal is just what the doctor ordered.
Aaron, I salute you and your team for a job well done…Tulalip Cable will never be able to contend with a company like yours.

Re: Aspen Installs, fun with faulty hardware, Firetrail Road and Lake Loma	By John M Andresen on 3/2/2007
I'm an ASPEN resident anxious to get "Thunderbird' service which I expect to happen next week. I have a neighbor who uses Verizon Wireless Broadband ("Air Card"). She claims that her service is being interferred with by Thunderbird.....Apparently her home is relatively close to the one where Thunderbird has installed a "Repeater" site.

Re: Aspen Installs, fun with faulty hardware, Firetrail Road and Lake Loma

By AaronTBird on 3/2/2007

John,

I have an aircard from verizon as well, I use it when I'm out on the road outside of our service area. They are quite handy tools. The frequencies that we use are 802.11a and 802.11b WiFi, which are seperated by many gigahertz from verizons CDMA cell network. We couldn't interfere with a cellular service if we tried. Also, the power output that we use is very, very small. We operate under what the FCC classifies as "Public Use" spectrum, which limits the broadcast power as well as constrains the broadcast frequencies to be different than any of those used for cellular, am radio, fm radio, broadcast tv, emergency services etc. By the very nature of our equipment, interference on those devices is prevented. The areas that we could have a potential for some form of interference would be with some older cordless telephones in the 2.4Ghz range, in which case we would work to mitigate the interference. I have contacted the person you mention and am going to come by with a wide range spectrum analyzer to try and help her determine the source of interference on her cell phone ( the verizon aircard is a cellphone in a pcmcia card.)

I'll post the results for those that are interested.

Regards,

Aaron

Re: Aspen Installs, fun with faulty hardware, Firetrail Road and Lake Loma	By AaronTBird on 3/2/2007
Also, We ordered the equipment that we need to get you online, I'll let you know when it arrives :)

Re: Aspen Installs, fun with faulty hardware, Firetrail Road and Lake Loma	By The Rookie on 3/5/2007
We have a customer that is on our 900 MHz gear and also has a Verizon EVDO aircard he uses when he travels. He has never had an issue with interference and the frequencies are much closer than the 2.4 GHz in The Aspen Community.

Re: Aspen Installs, fun with faulty hardware, Firetrail Road and Lake Loma	By John M. Andresen on 3/12/2007
So how is the state of progress for installations at Aspen? Did the Equipment arrive? Are there any objections to your service here at Aspen being lodged by the Tulaips? Any possible other issues developed or projected which might interfere or obstruct your ability to offer us service?

Re: Aspen Installs, fun with faulty hardware, Firetrail Road and Lake Loma

By AaronTBird on 3/12/2007

Hi John,

Saw that you called today, sorry I missed it. The equipment has arived and is ready to deploy! Ne pushback from the tribe or others, so all is well there. We're going to sit out the rainstorm tomorrow so that we dont risk dammage to the equipment during install, but once that clears we will be online with full coverage in your section.

Sorry for the short delay, we just want to be sure that the highest quality, and only the highest quality system, goes into Aspen.

Regards,

Aaron

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