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It doesn't seem to make much difference if it's 1
mile away or 1' away :-). We have a site that has 4 wifi systems on it and
there are 3 other providers about a mile away. From the cpe point of view,
they are almost the same site 10+ miles out.
Having said that, most of the people up there work
to see what channels are in use and then use something else. We've had to
put in VERY high end antennas and put much of our system on the same
channel. It's working ok, especially for one's on the opposite sides of
the site.
If you have a water tower to work with, assuming
you can get the tank between your antennas and theirs that should allow you to
do a good job of reusing channels.
Use good antennas, be creative. Also, start
moving things to hpol as you can, that'll help trim off signal from the cpe
pov.
As for the power thing. The FCC does care
about that. They do NOT want a cb radio fiasco to happen again. Sure
others get to use the spectrum (when doing system design I always try to leave
room for competitors to come in) but they have to do it right.
If those guys are interfering with you, you are
interfering with them. Probably even worse than they are doing to
you.
Check out the cpe side and look for
amps.
Use your SA and see if you can pick up on the dB
levels again.
I agree with others, that if they are just a couple
of dB over not much is likely to happen. In any case it's not likely that
the FCC will shut them down or fine them, but they will make them fix things and
get back down to the proper power levels.
I had a very obnoxious competitor who was running
15 dB omni antennas with 1 watt amps (at least that's what he was telling the
tower owners). He was a bit of a problem for me, but I knew that operators
that do dumb things like that eventually run out of money so I left him alone
after one failed attempt at working with them (they no-showed me at the meeting
we'd set up). I engineered around his systems and was running pretty
well. Even though I could point my customers several degrees away from his
systems and still pick his stuff up at higher power levels than my
stuff.
After a while I had a collection of 3 or 4 other
wisps that were having trouble with the same guy. We got together and
built a case against the guy. Pictures, equipment data when known
etc. I sent that to some of the FCC enforcement folks that I know and
eventually I was contacted by a field rep. I sent the data we had put
together along with contact info for the wisps that were more affected by the
first class prick than I was. I never did hear back from the FCC but all
amps are either gone or have been moved indoors. All ssid's are now hidden
(not that that matters to a $25,000 spectrum analyzer :-) etc. I think
he's running at better power levels but I've not taken the time to run a good
check lately.
I did have a couple of customers get mad at me and
move over to his system. It took 3 months for the longest one to come
back. I guess even on our bad days we have better service than he does on
the good days :-).
Feel free to drop me a line and we can see if we
can figure out a way to get you up and running nicely again and a way to make
him play nice.
laters,
Marlon
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, February 13, 2006 1:03
PM
Subject: [WISPA] Advice on Legal Options
for Competitor Interference
I have had equipment deployed on a
local water tank for about the last two years. The setup has been
sectorized and using 3 120 degree 2.4 GHz channels since we deployed. I
also have 4 5.8 GHz links running and one 5.3 GHz. Basically this site
is vital to my network and I have used a large chunk of the unlicensed
spectrum.
About a year ago another company
deployed a 5.8 GHz backhaul link and a 2.4 GHz omni on the residence that is
approximately 100 yards away from the tank. Their initial deployment
created 2.4 GHz interference with my existing customers and I squeezed my
existing sectorized channels together to get away from it. Ive been
using 4, 7, and 11 while they have been deployed on 1.
In the past I have used a spectrum
analyzer to evaluate the signals from both my site and theirs. I believe
all of my equipment is running right at 36 dB as allowed by law for point to
multipoint. When measured with the same antenna from the same distance,
their signal is approximately 7 dB higher than mine. In addition to the
excessive power it also appears the amp they are using is dirty and the
channel width is wider than anything I am running.
Their initial deployment really
upset me as their lack of engineering judgment or just plain stupidity created
issues for my customers who had reliable links before. I couldnt
believe that anyone would choose to deploy 2.4 GHz within a hundred yards of
an existing installation that was already using the entire spectrum. I
have tolerated the situation and dealt with the interference on my lower
channel by over engineering any links to that sector. I have also had my
backhaul link performance intermittently knocked off line after they changed
channels on their 5.8 GHz equipment.
During the backhaul interference
issue I contacted the company and give them credit for working with me to
resolve the issue. During that conversation they informed me they were
more than willing to coordinate with me and would notify me if they were
changing channels.
Over the last few weeks I have
been fighting with numerous troublesome client connections on two different
sectors that had been running without issue. Today I went to the tank to
upgrade the remaining 2 APPO units to a StarOS WRAP setup in an effort to
improve performance.
When I arrived I found that my
competitor has now installed a 50 ft. pole and has deployed an additional 4
radios on it. Needless to say I immediately understood why so many of my
customers were experiencing issues. I also see that the competitor was
really sincere about contacting me around channel usage.
My questions are what are my legal
options, has anyone dealt with this type of situation before (deployment
within 100 yards), and what kind of lawyer should I contact (any referrals are
welecome)? With the current heavy usage of spectrum at this site I do
not believe there is any option of lets play nice and coordinate
channels. There arent any left to coordinate and they were all used
before they deployed. I dont feel I have any option but legal
action.
From past list discussions I am
under the impression that there may be the non FCC involved option of filing
interfering with my ability to conduct business suit. Any comments on
this would be greatly appreciated.
I also believe I may have recourse
with the FCC. I am confident they are exceeding the legal EIRP on their
amped omni as one issue. I also question if their behavior could be
construed as intentionally causing interference. Knowingly deploying
within 100 yards of an existing site that is already utilizing the spectrum
seems to create a situation that can not avoid interference. If they
didnt know at the time of their initial deployment they were made aware of
exactly what spectrum was being used since via voice and email
exchanges. Even if they are not competent enough to use a spectrum
analyzer they had been informed of both the existing and potential for further
interference issues before the deployment of the new additional 4 radios I
found today. Im not really sure I want to go down this path but again I
dont believe they have left me any other options. How do I begin a
conversation with the FCC related to this situation?
Any and all comments would be
greatly appreciated.
Todd Barber
Skylink Broadband Internet
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
970-454-9499
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