ABC’s Hit TV Show Gets Extreme Wi-Fi Makeover
Extreme Makeover Home Edition Finds Better Wireless Range, Reliability and Performance with Smart Dual-Band 802.11n Outdoor Wi-Fi System from Ruckus Wireless
SUNNYVALE, CA, August 16, 2010 – Ruckus Wireless™ today announced that “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (EMHE), ABC’s popular television show that builds new homes for families in need, has chosen and deployed the Ruckus ZoneFlex Smart Wireless LAN (WLAN) system for use on production sets throughout the United States of America.
ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition show is using Ruckus dual-band, outdoor 802.11n Smart Wi-Fi products and technology to provide reliable wireless service and coverage spanning areas from several acres to multiple city blocks.
The show relies heavily on outdoor wireless Internet connectivity to support film and production crews, design teams and other onsite guests and staff. But given the dynamic nature of the environment, EMHE required a faster, more reliable and longer range Wi-Fi system.
For EMHE, the new Wi-Fi network needed to be able to cope with ever-changing environmental conditions, and provide strong signals that are typically subject to large amounts of interference from trees, neighboring houses, dozens of RVs, trucks and other machinery moving in and out of the “hero home” location.
According to show organizers Wi-Fi has become a necessity for collaboration between the on-site production crew and post-production teams at the network’s corporate offices in Los Angeles, as well as for email communications, printing, researching designs online, and various other types of paperwork.
One “root” AP provides smart mesh connectivity to three mesh APs that surround the makeover site. This eliminates the need to pull Ethernet cabling and provides non-stop operation of the network. In the event of a failed AP, the smart mesh network automatically reroutes long-range Wi-Fi connections using intelligent radio frequency technology to ensure constant connectivity.
Unlike conventional Wi-Fi products, the Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi system uses patented smart antenna array technology to deliver longer range Wi-Fi connections that are continually “steered” around obstacles and interference as they are experienced. Consequently, as client devices change their orientation or move, or as potential interference is encountered, the Ruckus technology ensures the highest possible data rate and lowest packet error rate. This results in greater Wi-Fi coverage, better reliability and more consistent performance everywhere. Additionally, Ruckus’ smart meshing capability provides reliable wireless connectivity to areas where Ethernet cabling is not possible.
Extreme Makeover Gets an Extreme Upgrade with Smart Wi-Fi
The Ruckus network now blankets the entire area of the most recent production set with solid Wi-Fi – even in the farthest corners that never before could get a signal.
The entire network can be set up in just one hour. “It’s amazing what this will mean for our team's productivity,” said Diane Kormarn, senior producer for EMHE. “Our crew is simply amazed at what great coverage they have while on location.”
To cover the multi-acre site, EHME deployed four dual-band 802.11n ZoneFlex 7762 outdoor APs, mounted on 16-foot poles. One root AP is connected to the Internet via a 25-50Mbps DSL circuit connects wirelessly to three mesh APs over long range, non-line of sight 5GHz connections, while the 2.4GHz radio serves hundreds of onsite laptops and handheld devices.
The EMHE network is configured with multiple virtual wireless LANs. One secure SSID provides access for the production crew, offering unrestricted bandwidth use. Another SSID is provided for public use by outsiders or random vendors needing short-term access. The secure SSID uses WPA2 for authentication, and also allows for airtime fairness for a mix of 802.11a/b/g/n devices accessing the network. For the open public networks, bandwidth thresholds per user are set to ensure equal allocation of bandwidth among all users.
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