Wireless Goes On Tour

Indeed, the Dave Matthews Band has done such a great job of orchestrating its IT needs that other rock groups look toward its expertise for their own computing needs.

"We have made it easier for other groups to use their computers in these facilities, and they have learned from us how to support the computing needs of their own tours," says Rudy Arias, the band's one-man IT shop. In the process, he has assembled one of the best examples of a portable wireless backbone network to support the tours.

Although Arias relied on solution providers' recommendations for gear, most of the hard work has been trial and error on his part to determine what works best in each venue. Still, VARs who are interested in specializing in wireless infrastructure can learn plenty from Arias' experience.

Taking It From the Top

The Dave Matthews Band faced a real challenge when it came to its computing needs: Imagine taking your entire office staff on the road and being in a different city every few days, yet the mundane office work of accounting, selling tickets and managing operations still has to happen. Before turning to a wireless network, the band was rolling out 3,800 feet of cat-5 cabling around each arena. "And because we couldn't leave the cabling out, each morning we had to roll it up, and each afternoon we had to roll it back out, tape it down and get the network working again," Arias says.

The wireless network, which consists of about 60 computers,mostly Macintoshes running on several subnets,eliminated those chores. "Our network is up and running shortly after we arrive at a venue, and it stays up till 30 minutes before the last truck is loaded up, because accounting people need to get their work done," Arias says.

Of course, getting from the opening act to the encore performance was no easy feat. First off, the new network had to be secure; there are no automatically assigned IP addresses. Every computer carries a hardware key to connect it to the network.

Second, because the network has a wireless backbone connecting the entire arena, software applications have to be able to work across the various subnets and across wireless connections so that users can still communicate as they roam throughout the building. That is a definite challenge because most traditional office-bound wireless users stay on a single subnet, and most corporate networks use wireless segments to cover specific areas and have a hard-wired backbone. "The only computer hardwired on our network is our file server, and we have most of our users roaming around from subnet to subnet," according to Arias.

Third, the venues themselves can pose problems. Most urban arenas are radio sinkholes, full of concrete, fluorescent lights and lots of steel that trap radio signals and make it difficult to get the full advertised ranges of 300 feet around each wireless access point. "They are real bunkers," Arias says.

In addition, many arenas are already filled with conflicting wireless gear, such as wireless phones and surveillance cameras, that can interfere with the wireless network signals. Of note, VARs who are deploying wireless networks should pay careful attention to the radio characteristics of an environment and not take a vendor's specs at face value.

Finally, there were also some unusual circumstances that made life interesting for Arias. "Because of 9/11, I have had to have security background checks before some of these venues would consider letting me into their IT wiring closets," he says.

Setting Up the Equipment

At the recommendation of several VARs, Arias selected a collection of gear for his portable wireless network, which included SonicWall firewalls and Lucent/Proxim access points. "The Lucent APs have good throughput even under weak signaling conditions," he says. "I'd rather have a weak signal but solid throughput than the other way around." VARs who are getting involved in wireless networks should take that mantra to heart.

To determine placement of the access points and make it easier to troubleshoot the network, Arias selected a product called AirMagnet, which is part network analyzer and part wireless spectrum channel analyzer. "I do two sweeps around the arena: one at 7:30 a.m. that tells me what devices are up and running, and another sweep just before the show opens," he says. "I go through the wireless spectrum and see if I get any interference from anyone else's gear."

After completing his site census, Arias locates his access points according to where the AirMagnet software tells him he will need radio coverage, which usually turns out to be every 30 or so feet,far less than the advertised ranges of 10 times that number according to most manufacturers' specifications.

"And that is after modifying each access point with a special antenna to extend its range," he says. "AirMagnet has really helped me eliminate a lot of issues when I deploy my network." In fact, it is a tool that should be in any VAR's bag when making an initial site visit.

Connectivity was the last major hurdle to overcome, Arias says. Many arenas are still in the Dark Ages when it comes to that, and in three cities, the band actually paid to install cabling in the arena "because we usually come back to these venues and see it as a tool to help our business," he adds.

Part of the problem is lack of knowledge on the part of arena managers. "They think we are intending to do our own video-streaming live from the event," Arias says. "The reality is much more mundane, such as selling tickets, running our accounting applications and answering e-mail."

Many of the arenas the band uses are run by Clear Channel Entertainment, a San Antonio-based media conglomerate.

"Lately, Clear Channel has begun to wire all of its own venues for Internet connectivity and work with us so that we can connect our network to theirs," Arias says. Prior to sharing the venue's Internet connection, the band had to make arrangements to install dual analog modems or ISDN lines to the

arena, a time-consuming and expensive proposition.

All this effort at assembling the perfect wireless backbone network has paid off for the Dave Matthews Band and its staff. They are able to move the network around with minimal fuss, have it operate almost flawlessly during their tours, and still maintain Internet connectivity and get their work done when on the road. Sweet music, indeed, to the ears of customers and VARs alike.