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Wet Country Wireless; How British Weather Killed a Billion Pound Tech Company

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Re: Wet Country Wireless; How British Weather Killed a Billion Pound Tech Company

#21

Post by mprev »

Zenst wrote: post #7

Was expecting to read about Rabbit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_(telecommunications) which was another failed wireless communication venture and think DECT roaming for a quick grasp of what they offered. Can't say I had heard of the company in the article, though living inside the M25, you are kind of bubbled from internet offering choice limitations.

Ah, Rabbit was amazing. A “mobile” you could use within a few feet of specific locations.

As for Ionica, it wasn’t that long ago that you would still see the dishes on roofs and chimneys in the Midlands. Its downfall, though, was less to do with rain and more that it was narrowband, so good only for voice and maybe dialup modem, at a time when cable networks were not far off launching DOCSIS broadband.

Re: Wet Country Wireless; How British Weather Killed a Billion Pound Tech Company

#22

Post by KozmoNau7 »

mrweasel wrote: post #11

Sonofon (now Telenor) in Denmark had a similar issue using FWA for internet service. Internet would drop out in the rain, the signal couldn’t parse over small stretches of water and leafs would get in the way in the spring and summer time. The stupid part is that people had already been asking if water droplets would’t be an idea, and technicians working on the test equipment had noticed that it wouldn’t work in the…

We were on FWA for a while, as it was the only connection type faster than ISDN available to us, before DSL was fully rolled out.

My dad was an RF technician, so he checked all the permits and allocations beforehand, and did his own survey to make sure we had a 100% uninterrupted line of sight to the mast.

It worked quite well, better than the horror stories you hear now, 1.5Mbps and we didn't have issues with rain unless it was a torrential downpour. Snowfall was the real killer, in our experience. I guess most other subscribers weren't so lucky with foliage etc.

In the end, DSL was rolled out and we jumped ship, but FWA was a neat technology, it felt very futuristic.

Re: Wet Country Wireless; How British Weather Killed a Billion Pound Tech Company

#24

Post by marshmallow_12 »

I wonder what he meant by "lingering signs of bt monopoly". Only they and i think Virgin actually supply lines. And the price for a landline is absurd. Like completely out of touch with reality. We have to pay extra for basics like caller id and even to call uk mobile phone numbers! Which is totally ridiculous. Landlines have a quarter of the utility and cost 7 times more (easily) then a call/text only mobile plan.

Re: Wet Country Wireless; How British Weather Killed a Billion Pound Tech Company

#25

Post by DoubleGlazing »

Zenst wrote: post #7

Was expecting to read about Rabbit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_(telecommunications) which was another failed wireless communication venture and think DECT roaming for a quick grasp of what they offered. Can't say I had heard of the company in the article, though living inside the M25, you are kind of bubbled from internet offering choice limitations.

I know someone who still uses the Rabbit handset as their home phone.

There was also Dolphin Telecom, the network based on Tetra technology and was only in service for 2-3 years.

Re: Wet Country Wireless; How British Weather Killed a Billion Pound Tech Company

#26

Post by notRobot »

lb1lf wrote: post #17
joosters wrote: post #8

I used to work in that Ionica building (after Ionica left). Like Ionica, the building design was cutting edge but didn’t live up to expectations! The ‘smart’ building used computer controlled cooling towers, vents and a giant block of concrete (as a ‘thermal battery’) to manage the heating and cooling, in place of regular air conditioning. The building ran on an ancient OS/2 desktop computer - I wonder if it is still…

> Ironically, you could open the windows by your desk to get a cooling fresh breeze of air, but then the building manager would come around and complain that you had to shut the windows, they were disrupting the ‘smart ventilation’ airflow! -At a building I used to work in, management solved that problem by having a contractor bolt all the windows shut so that the ventilation could do its thing. Only problem was, the…

> bolt all the windows shut

Pretty sure this is a fire code violation in many places

Re: Wet Country Wireless; How British Weather Killed a Billion Pound Tech Company

#27

Post by lb1lf »

notRobot wrote: post #26
lb1lf wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ironically, you could open the windows by your desk to get a cooling fresh breeze of air, but then the building manager would come around and complain that you had to shut the windows, they were disrupting the ‘smart ventilation’ airflow! -At a building I used to work in, management solved that problem by having a contractor bolt all the windows shut so that the ventilation could do its thing. Only problem was, the…

> bolt all the windows shut Pretty sure this is a fire code violation in many places

Oh, the building was up to code as we had (at least) two routes from any office space to the outside in an emergency.

Re: Wet Country Wireless; How British Weather Killed a Billion Pound Tech Company

#28

Post by MomoXenosaga »

My country switched to cable in the 1980s. Its always fascinating to me seeing old pictures where every house has an antenna!

Wireless technology can be rolled out quickly while fibreglass networks are a massive and costly undertaking. Neatly putting all infrastructure into the ground is certainly more aesthetically pleasing IMO.

Re: Wet Country Wireless; How British Weather Killed a Billion Pound Tech Company

#29

Post by m463 »

joosters wrote: post #8

I used to work in that Ionica building (after Ionica left). Like Ionica, the building design was cutting edge but didn’t live up to expectations! The ‘smart’ building used computer controlled cooling towers, vents and a giant block of concrete (as a ‘thermal battery’) to manage the heating and cooling, in place of regular air conditioning. The building ran on an ancient OS/2 desktop computer - I wonder if it is still…

> ‘smart ventilation’ airflow

I've lived and worked in buildings where airflow was crazy.

You know, you open a door and it goes flying out of your grasp and you have to use your weight to help close the door.

Or doors that would stubbornly refuse to open, fighting suction the first couple inches before the forces would ease up and the door could be opened by mortals.

I lived in one apartment on the top floor, and in winter there was some weird effect where I had to leave the heat on with no fan and warm air would fill the room by convection. If the fan was on, it would quickly become 80 degrees no matter what.

Re: Wet Country Wireless; How British Weather Killed a Billion Pound Tech Company

#30

Post by DoubleGlazing »

gnfargbl wrote: post #23

If rain attenuation was a significant issue for Ionica, then won't it be a significant issue for the UK's 5G roll-out? Both system appear to run at about 3.5GHz.

5G is designed to drop down frequencies in situations like that. The frequency range that 5G can use is huge, but speeds won't be as fast lower down the spectrum.
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