Millimeter wave radios connect to city’s fiber backbone
Baltimore’s historic Inner Harbor received a touch of modernization with the city’s recent deployment of free public Wi-Fi powered by 60 GHz radios manufactured by Siklu and mounted on lamp posts.
Siklu spokesman Kevin Tanzillo said the installation required hardware placement “without detracting from the charm of the area.”
The project was managed by the firm Port Network. The city of Baltimore owns and operates a fiber backbone in the area, but it is not comprehensive enough to reach all the planned Wi-Fi access points. Not wanting to disrupt the popular tourist area by laying more cable, Port Networks selected Siklu’s EtherHaul-600T radio.
“The EtherHaul is literally palm-sized,” Port Networks network manager Carl Peterson said. “It was the smallest radio we could find that operated in the 60 GHz spectrum.
“Installing the EtherHaul-600T was very easy,” he continued. “Its small size and light weight make the physical installation very simple, and aligning the link was surprisingly uncomplicated and fast.”
The radio, which is 5.9 inches by 6.1 inches by 3.54 inches, provides gigabit throughput without interference by operating in the 57 GHz-64 GHz unlicensed band.
Ilan Moshe, Siklu’s head of North American operations, said the network has performed perfectly since going live.
“We’re confident our EtherHaul backhaul will be able to handle anything Baltimore’s Wi-Fi network can throw at it. The EtherHaul-600T has proven performance under peak Wi-Fi conditions, even in situations where the upload rate greatly exceeds the download rate.”
The Baltimore Sun reports the city spent $142,600 on the project, which breaks down to include $90,600 on hardware and installation, $14,500 for six months of service and $37,500 for running fiber.
The newspaper said the project now covers the area from the Rusty Scupper to the World Trade Center, with a second phase being planned to cover the area from the World Trade Center to the Baltimore Public Works Museum.
The city’s acting CTO Jerome Mullen said, “Projects like this are just the beginning of the opportunities that remain as we strengthen and expand the city’s fiber optic network. We are building digital city infrastructure and the possibilities are endless.”
