For remote, temporary and transitional sites, Onwave deploy a variety of components as part of the rapid connectivity service and the impacts it can have on your projects.
Every site has a variety of connectivity providers and hardware options. Here we reveal our strategy for determining the best options for a hybrid site and how this impacts your business.
Measure the available connectivity types with maps and professional metering
In the past we have spoken to site managers who carry bags containing dongles of different shapes and sizes, from different providers. If there is a poor signal or performance from one, it’s a case of chose another dongle and plug and pray! In some cases, we’ve heard of construction companies going down the nearest high st to pick up a SIM and hoping for the best. Onwave’s approach starts with a survey to determine the location of nearby masts. Before we attend a site, it’s already known which providers are likely to provide best performance. However, nothing beats a site survey on location.
Having an up to date digital map with the locations of nearby masts allows Onwave’s team to select suitable connectivity providers. These candidates will then get surveyed at the remote location for suitability.
Choose the best type of antenna according to the local topology
Onwave’s connectivity solutions use multiple providers for resilience. Using professional test equipment at the remote site, the location and strength of candidate connectivity providers is measured. It’s also a case of choosing the right antenna. Mobile phones, My-Fi units and dongles use portable (tiny) antennas. Onwave’s outdoor antennas provided much needed signal gain.
“I can’t believe how you could get brilliant performance, where we could get none.” recent Onwave customer .
Different antennas give different performance profiles. Some act like a rifle; excellent performance where there’s a direct line of site to the mast. Other antennas act like a shotgun, spreading the signal. Much better where trees or other obstacles might impact performance. Onwave deploy directional antennas which reduce interference.
Monitor network usage and adjust to optimise performance
Onwave use enterprise class equipment rather than consumer products to enable your business to manage all the traffic from a site and enforce security policies on a single point of control.
Onwave are able to monitor the connections and prioritise the mix of applications on the network for business performance.
These 3 factors: the ability to survey and measure, the choice of antenna and enterprise features come together to provide optimised connectivity at a site. Site managers can get on with their work, without having to go down the high street for a SIM or 2.
