Any improvement to cell coverage for this year's AirVenture?

[Check 6]

No, the vendor Wi-Fi is on a secured, separate pipe. This is not to say it has unlimited capacity, but it isn't subject to the same demands as the public Wi-Fi.

Thanks John, that is great news.

[Inspector Fenwick]

I think I have a picture somewhere that I should scan and post, showing people lined up at the pay phones scattered around the OSH grounds. This was from back in the 70's, I am sure. Before anybody should misread my sentiments, I am still employed in my own business, with the need for "communication".....however, all of my clients, all of my contract people know this....I AM GOING TO BE DAMNED HARD TO REACH during OSH. I know it is tough to be away from facebook (whatever that is....just kidding...I check my page once a month whether I need to or not), and tough to not stream video of American Idol, or, in my case The Andy Griffith Show....but jeeeeesh people, it was not that far back that we would not even be having this conversation, and yet we LIVED, even prospered. I know many of your kids will DIE if they can't ruin their thumbs punching texts to all of their friends at the mall back home, but try introducing them to aviation and all the dreams that go with that.

Sorry for the rant, but we have lost 4 people in my state in the recent past, due to young people driving and texting....and killing others.

As for ATT, that is my carrier. Did not have any issues with them last year or the year before. I also did not have issues with the EAA wifi, although it did not seem to come on until Tuesday. I also have my own Sprint aircard and router, so if any of you are having withdrawl symptoms from not being connected 24/7, come on over and I will let you get online, and sell you an orange to ward off OSH Scurvy ($10 a slice, and you will pay it).

[FlyingRon]

I carry two cells to Oshkosh (though not with me outside the tent) one on Verizon and one on AT&T. I can tell you it's dicey at times with either one of them. I had a very interesting telecom with some folks from General Dynamics punctuated by airshow low passes and dropped verizon connections last summer.

[Jim Hann]

Of course when you have 73,296 pilots on their phones at the same time.....

Small correction, 73,296 pilot on their SMART phones at the same time!

[Check 6]

Small correction, 73,296 pilot on their SMART phones at the same time!

Very true.

[dmbleess]

I saw that AT&T had at least one COWS mobile cell tower truck at the week-long Omaha College World Series this year.

I didn't get my own photo of one, these are from the web. The extendable pole behind the cab on the white truck in this bottom image also has a cell antenna perched on the top.


Sprint has WIMAX (early 4g - slowly being replaced by LTE) coverage via Clear http://www.clear.com/coverage that IS tenuously accessible on Wimax phones via a "spectrum protection site" built per govt regulation to reserve their national spectrum lease. It is part of a "use it or lose it" program.

You can use the address for the FAA pavilion at 3210 Knapp Street - ZIP 54902 to view that (arguably borderline) coverage of the airport on their map.

On some (most / all?) Sprint Wimax phones, keep in mind that you may have to manually disconnect wi-fi and select "enable" and "connect" for 4g to get it to connect. It isn't automatic like regular data coverage and if you have an established wi-fi connection, it overrides the 4g wimax connection.

You have to do this from within the wimax coverage area to get it to synchronize up and you may have to reconnect manually periodically if you lose connection by walking into a building, or Radio Frequency Interference noisy area.


Nextel side of Sprint has always had decent voice, low end MMS data, and direct connect coverage, this will be my first year with a Wimax 4g "pure Sprint" Motorola Photon smartphone. I'll be trying Clear's 4g Wimax and public Wi-Fi to see what performance I get.


Another multi-carrier signal coverage information site is Sensorly. That site uses smartphone apps to collect a clearinghouse of purely real-world user-derived coverage data. Select a carrier and data mode from the dropdown box.

Remember, this is NOT vendor provided data. It is derived only from users via the application and their voluntary participation.

Be sure to zoom in on the coverage map at least a notch or two from default as the low magnification overview map is generally derived from older and less extensive data. WiFi listings hinted at there don't seem to work.

On Sensorly, if a user hasn't taken readings for that carrier on that location, you do not have any data. Check Verizon 4g and Sprint 4g for examples of successfully detected high-end coverage around KOSH (zip code 54902)

Android APP link
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sensorly.viewer


Since the biggest issue is the capacity problem caused by the sheer volume of users on the system. AT&T + Verizon are the two on top. They build for average usage "plus". But NOT for a huge, sprawling, usage spiking, outdoor vacation/recreation, data-intensive events like Airventure.

This is where having a relatively small or unpopular carrier becomes more valuable -as long as their equipment is still decent.

Because there are fewer users on those systems, they have less competition for the available resources.

The only real way to handle the spike to any of our satisfaction would be something closer to setting up an *expensive* miniature version of each carrier's mobile disaster recovery sites:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/29/on-the-ground-with-atandts-network-disaster-recovery-team/2

Watch the time-lapse of the Dallas practice exercise. That isn't cheap to do for a seven-day event. You use up consumables and break things. These setups are meant for 3-6 months use while local infrastructure is completely rebuilt post-disaster.

Now, it WOULD be a useful short-term training drill -which is what the video illustrates, BUT...

Problems with that are that it costs a LOT of money to house that staff in Oshkosh that time of year because the lodging is already taken up by all the Airventure visitors - a year or two in advance.

Carriers would also need to find places to park all that equipment securely away from the airshow disaster zone but within reach of the airport.

Logistical nightmare, and cost-benefit fails quickly.

Add to that, anytime you find a means to expand bandwidth, people will find a way to use it up.

I swear that everyone would try to Skype from Airventure if they could.

15 days
20 for me

Live video feeds are in testing. Look for that thread here in the forums.

[RickFE]

Spent the whole week there in 2011. I didn't even know there was a cell phone issue and wifi was just there every night with no issues as well.

Maybe I was just lucky.

[Sawdust]

I thought last year the EAA wifi was significantly improved from previous years, and my ATT and Sprint phones had good service most of the time. I admit I'm a heavy user, was even direct uploading pics from my phone realtime. At times the uploads would be delayed minutes or even hours, but I expect that as the carriers prioritize voice and text over data and uploads.

John - I couldn't find a map of the 2012 EAA wifi locations. Is it available?

Did ATT have those two COWS last year too, or is that an improvement for this year?

[dmbleess]

I would expect they would be listed on the grounds map again this year.

They *are* missing from the current 2012 revision of the camp scholler map already posted.

Maps should be here as they post:
http://airventure.org/planning/schedules_maps.html

Last year's scholler map (with wi-fi):
http://airventure.org/images/av11_schollermap.jpg

Last year's grounds map (same as current link 07.07.12):
http://airventure.org/planning/av11_visitormap.pdf

You can see last year's locations on last year's maps (until they are replaced?)
Look at the map legend to see what the symbol for the wi-fi transmitter locations are.

[Sawdust]

I know where all the maps are, and what the wifi symbols are. I'm asking John because they are not indicated for 2012.