Wireless at the Coalface: Part 1

IT PRO talks to IT managers in a range of organisations about their views on current wireless technology, and their hopes for its future development.

By Guy Matthews, 8 Feb 2007 at 12:15

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Rather than a critique of individual products and suppliers, we wanted some feedback on what wireless connectivity in general is delivering for the business, how it fits alongside wired infrastructure, where it falls short of what IT professionals need and where it delivers the goods - in all a practical assessment of what enterprises are currently getting and what they expect down the line.

This month we look at two examples from the private sector, next month we turn to the public sector.

Aaron Bazler, network and infrastructure manager at Manchester Airport

Manchester is the UK's third largest airport, handling 20 million passengers a year travelling to more than 180 destinations worldwide.

The airport has implemented a campus-wide wireless network to allow secure high-speed internet access for both staff and travellers.

The Manchester deployment consists of 90 Trapeze Mobility Point access points covering the three terminals. Having started out with 28 access points as a pilot to cover the airport's executive lounges and food courts, the system has since been expanded to provide wireless coverage to almost every indoor part of the enterprise.

The network supports three wireless standards: 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g. Manchester's T-Mobile-based service keeps public and staff traffic separate with centralised policies for network access and mobility services.

"Our customers are the travellers that use the airport, logging on between getting past security and boarding their plane," says Bazler. "Along with using the toilet and having a coffee it's something people simply expect at airports these days."

As well as serving passengers, the wireless network is also at the disposal of airport staff, he says, who were previously restricted to a wired terminal for accessing information for customers. "Now they can interact with customers wherever they are without having to stand there and wait for them."

The system in use today was specified back in 2003, says Basler: "It was an easy choice back then as there weren't too many options to choose from. We're using pretty much the same hardware as then, but a lot more of it, and we've upgraded the software."

Basler's future plans include extending the wireless network outside the terminal buildings to bring mobile data to the apron and airfield.

"I'm looking forward to performance above the 54Mb we're now getting from our 802.11g network when that becomes available," he says. "I'm keen to see what will be possible with 802.11n in terms of high speeds. I know a lot of organisations are adopting 802.11n now rather than wait for ratification, but as an international airport I feel we have a certain amount of responsibility to wait until fully endorsed 802.11n products come along."

Looking forward, Basler feels that Manchester's wireless network will always be complementary to its fixed network, not an eventual replacement. "I anticipate that there will always be a performance differential between the two which means the wired infrastructure will remain the main network," he says. "But I think they can coexist quite happily."

The current network works without interfering with other airport communications systems as it's on a different frequency to the police radio, the operational staff's trunk radio and the mobile phone networks, he explains: "Effort is needed to make sure they all work in harmony."