Here is the Press Release from when Crown Castle installed the DAS into the Amway Center...
Press Release
Crown Castle Deploys Distributed Antenna System at Amway Center
Enhances Wireless Coverage at Games and Events
HOUSTON, Mar 24, 2011
Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE:CCI) today announced that one of its subsidiaries has deployed a neutral host distributed antenna system ("DAS") to facilitate wireless communication services to all 875,000 square feet of the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. The system is expected to provide enhanced wireless voice and data coverage for up to five wireless carriers.
"Fans attending major sporting events and concerts want to share their experience and stay connected via their mobile devices by sharing calls, texts and photos with friends and family across the country before, during and after events at the center," said Pat Slowey, Crown Castle's Senior Vice President -- Sales and Customer Relations. "For venues looking to provide wireless coverage on game day or during other events, a DAS network provides the optimal wireless infrastructure solution."
The new Amway Center features eight levels, five public concourses, and can seat up to 20,000 people. To provide enhanced wireless coverage for fans and staff throughout the Amway Center, an indoor DAS network was deployed. The system is comprised of antennas connected by fiber to a communications hub designed to facilitate wireless communications for multiple carriers.
"The Amway Center is revolutionizing the way fans watch a live basketball game or concert," said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. "The building is the most technologically advanced center in the country, featuring more than 1,100 high-definition television screens and a state-of-the-art digital signage network throughout the building, which maximizes fan engagement and interaction and provides patron information. The additional wireless coverage provided by the DAS network will further enhance our attendees' experiences."
"Crown Castle is a pioneer in the design, deployment and monitoring of neutral host DAS networks. As a leading provider of shared wireless infrastructure in the US, Crown Castle has long term relationships with all major wireless carriers," stated Jim Young, Crown Castle's Chief Operating Officer. "We work directly with the carriers to lease capacity on the system, enabling the venue owner to enjoy incremental revenue without the burden of coordinating deployment, installation, and maintenance of the system. More importantly, the venue can deliver one of their primary objectives, ensuring a superb wireless experience for fans at the venue before, during and after an event."
About Crown Castle
Crown Castle owns, operates, and leases towers and other infrastructure for wireless communications. Crown Castle offers significant wireless communications coverage to 92 of the top 100 US markets and to substantially all of the Australian population. Crown Castle owns, operates, and manages over 22,000 and approximately 1,600 wireless communication sites in the US and Australia, respectively.
About the Amway Center
The Orlando Magic served as the developer of the Amway Center, which will host major national events, concerts and family shows. Opened in the fall of 2010, the facility is owned and operated by the City of Orlando on behalf of the Central Florida Community. The Amway Center was designed to reflect the character of the community, meet the goals of the users and build on the legacy of sports and entertainment in Orlando. The building features a sustainable, environmentally-friendly design and unmatched technology that provides fans with extraordinary access to event coverage both inside and outside the arena.
Now, time to inject some 802.11 RF theory into this.
There are only 3 clean channels in 2.4ghz 1, 6, & 11. There are many more available "clean" channels in 5ghz.
The ideal number of machines per Access Point in 15 on 802.11g (anything more and your speed decreases exponentially).
The tolerances for 802.11a/n are much higher, but 2.4ghz is the wireless sewer. Now, bring a DAS into place. The Distributed Antenna System, has to be able to connect to multiple available radio channels and Radios in the Targeted Areas. Expecting 802.11g/n to work everywhere is setting yourself up for severe disappointment. I think we need to wait and see what the Crown Castle is really installing. This may be just cellular enhancement. Remember, Nextel's IDEN infrastructure is going "bye-bye" and all of WDW uses that as their Radio service. They have to enhance the Sprint PCS Signal and the new 860mhz Signals into the WDW area to provide seamless radio communications.
Last year WDW started working with Sprint to phase out their Nextels starting in 2012. I think this DAS infrastructure is to support that initiative. If they decide to layer Wi-Fi on-top, then that is just the cherry. BUT, and that is a big BUT, do not expect it to work worth a crap! There is a Distributed Antenna System on each of the
DCL ships, and that Wifi stinks. (Not to be confused with the internet service, which is also not great because it is on VSAT).
Here is a release on a system they installed for a 16 sq mile city. This system is for cellular only.
Crown Castle Announces Distributed Antenna System in Paradise Valley, Arizona
Network to Enhance Wireless Coverage in Residential Community
HOUSTON, Mar 30, 2011 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) --
Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE:CCI) today announced that one of its subsidiaries has completed construction of a distributed antenna system (DAS) to facilitate wireless communications services in Paradise Valley, Arizona. The community near Phoenix approved a DAS wireless solution in order to provide enhanced wireless coverage, preserve the town's aesthetics, and accommodate multiple wireless carriers. The Paradise Valley DAS network provides wireless coverage for residents and first responders throughout the 16 square mile community. AT&T Mobility is the first wireless provider to utilize the DAS network, and the network has the capacity to support up to four additional carriers.
Working with town leaders and citizens, Crown Castle designed and constructed a forty-two node outdoor DAS system for the town. The system utilizes three streetlights, two traffic signals, and thirty-seven faux cacti to conceal wireless antennae and equipment.
"Crown Castle worked closely with the town council and residents to develop a wireless solution that would satisfy coverage demands and preserve the aesthetics of Paradise Valley," stated Mike Kavanagh, President -- DAS for Crown Castle. "Crown Castle invested a lot of time in public outreach in order to educate residents about DAS and to collect their input on what the system's components should look like and where they should be located. As a result of the public outreach campaign, the town leaders approved the DAS network, allowing construction to begin without delay."
"Our town government is dedicated to preserving the residential character of the community. The town's residents expect ubiquitous wireless service, but not at the expense of changing the peaceful, quiet surroundings of the town," said Scott LeMarr, Mayor of Paradise Valley. "With Crown Castle we found a company that recognized the special character of our town and that developed a design solution that preserved the town's aesthetics while providing great wireless coverage."
The town of Paradise Valley, Crown Castle and AT&T Mobility will celebrate the new DAS network at a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on Wednesday, March 30th at 10:00 AM (PDT) at the Police Department Auditorium on the Town Hall Campus. Paradise Valley's mayor and council members, as well as representatives of Crown Castle and AT&T Mobility, will "flip the switch" to activate the DAS network.
After looking through some additional docs, I really doubt this is for wifi and is strictly for Cellular Carrier Enhancement.
It also looks like Disney is having this installed at
Disneyland also.
It looks like the radios are only compatible with Cellular carriers as indicated in this radio requirement by the city of Orlando. I would have figured they would have also used this for the Public Safety Radio system as well, but I guess not.
