Cactus 2.4 GHz Wireless Hot Spots

(2006) Last summer, we installed wireless 2.4 GHz Internet Access points in several places around Moscow.  They use a new, very powerful radio which can “hear” a good notebook radio through most walls at about a quarter mile away.  Of course, if you add trees or additional walls, the distance decreases*.  But if you are within a quarter mile of one of the hot spots, and there are no hills or trees or buildings in the way, we'll be happy to do a site survey to see if you can get the service.  If you're closer, with only a few trees or buildings in between, that can often work, too.  If you have a notebook which can get at least four bars on a Cactus HotSpot, you've made the test yourself - simply phone or stop by and sign up.  Cactus Computer & Internet, 211 S. Main St., Moscow.  883-5500.

It’s high-speed Internet access, 3000K download, 768K upload in most places.  $19.95 for one household.  If your notebook can "see" a HotSpot, but the signal is too weak, we have ways of boosting it.

Note that in 2006 we have deployed a separate 5.8 GHz carrier-class radio system in Moscow and Pullman.  See details.

* Wireless 2.4 GHz signals do not go through hills.  They are also stopped by metal, such as steel-reinforced concrete, refrigerators, or walls with foil-backed insulation.  The signal is degraded but not stopped by brick, concrete or trees.  Some trees are worse than others - pines are especially bad, and the thicker the leaf canopy, the worse the degradation.  Walls degrade the signal as well, and the farther away from the source, the weaker the signal will be even without added impediments.  Even rain, snow or fog in the air will degrade a 2.4 GHz signal.

Windows don't seem to bother the signal much (unless they are argon-filled or have a metallic sunshield on them).  Frame and sheet-rock walls are not transparent, but not bad.

Some wireless radios are definitely better than others.  Many inexpensive, older notebooks have radios which can barely function, let alone get a good connection at a distance, and some notebooks are quite good.  The quality and shape of the antenna also makes a huge difference.  All else being equal, limiting the view of an antenna increases its sensitivity.  For instance, you can expect a 90 degree "corner" antenna to be about four times as sensitive as a 360 degree "omni" antenna.  The 15 db directional "dish" antennas have a wider view than the more powerful 25 db dish antennas.

7/10/06 Very new Ruckus MIMO radios are now in stock at Cactus.  They're not magic, but they will often make the difference between a marginal signal and a good one.