Long Distance WAN Solutions?

Kreiger asks: "A client of the 'Big Five' consulting firm I work for is looking to implement a mid to large-scale WAN, the only issue is that some of the sites that they want to extend the WAN to are incredibly remote (some of these places can only be reliably reached via satellite phones). Does anyone know of any proven (or at least non-vaporware) WAN tools or vendors that can handle this sort of thing?"

Comments

This is a good question

[LWolenczak]

I dunno, most of it is going to be vaporware. Your best bet may be to get all the offices some sort of internet access, and then use IPSec. This is a hard question.

Serious Reply

[Argyle]

For high speed transmission, you options are limited. But if you got the cash, the technology exists to provide realtime IP traffic to anywhere in the world.

The newest set of digital satellite transmission systems have the capability to send IP traffic. The systems are mainly designed for television transmission of MPEG video, so conditional access (what we TV guys call encryption) is a basic part of the system. The security level is quite high.

To make this system work, both ends needs satellite transmission gear, dishes, and obviously access to a satellite transponder. This ain't cheap, you are talking hundreds of thousands of US$ in capital to buy, building a transmission structure, and the cost of a transponder (>$125,000) per month.

IF you are still interested, you should talk to Scientific Atlanta, General Instruments, or Philips.
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I have been doing this for years.

[human bean]

No big deal. All it takes is cash and cojones.

Really, how remote are you talking? How much bandwidth do you need? Realtime, or will short-store-and-forward work? Fixed, switched, or DAMA?What's your limit on latency?

Satellite immediately springs to mind, but there are spots on this earth where footprints don't reach (polar regions behind mountain ranges...) If you have the right sort of data you could meteor burst it, or use old-style RTTY.

AMsat can get you bandwidth in sixty-four K chunks from a portable transceiver, what they don't tell you is the latency, and the bloody thing won't tolerate compression, or multi-link well.

Most vendors of "works anywhere" equipment have not really tested their stuff. It is amazing how many companies would drag their equipment out to one of our remote sites for tests, have it fail, and then say something like "it worked okay at the cabin in Maine...". Let me tell you, there is no place in the contiguous 48 american states that may be considered "remote". When dealing with the vendors, always ask how the gear/method works at higher latitudes and arctic regions. You will most likely get a mixed response. It may work in the middle of the ocean at the equator, but things are iffy at longer reaches.

If worse comes to worse, you could simply mail them the CD-ROM...

Re:I have been doing this for years.

[human bean]

Burros would freeze to death here. We use caribou.

The shamans tell me that they could convince the whales to sing messages for them. Now, I just have to figure out how to write a driver...

A few for you

[abarrow]

Probably your best bet would be to try to implement some sort of VSAT or other satellite based solution. You can check out Tachyon or Gilat for solutions where Internet connectivity is appropriate. Otherwise, you might beat the bushes for other satellite providers that that might give you point to point services.

For short messages, Orbcomm is pretty popular, but it's strictly an email message type of service. You can use it for short messages from things like pumps and other SCADA systems.

You probably already know that GlobalStar is about the only game in town for satellite phones, now that Iridium bit the dust. I wouldn't hang my hopes on them, it looks like they are having the same sort of problems that Iridium had.

Finally, the global WAN provider with about the best international coverage has got to be Equant. They seem to be able to get just about anywhere.

Have fun. Once you relax, international networking to remote locations can be a hoot.

DOMSAT

[Detritus]

If you have the money, you can lease a DOMSAT (domestic satellite) transponder and build Earth stations at your network nodes. GE Americom provides this type of service in the USA.

Gilat

[austad]

Try Gilat. Depending on where exactly these remote sites are, they may be able to use these guys. Gilat also just signed a deal with Dish Network awhile back to provide 2-way satellite internet for users, no dialing up with a phone line anymore.

Dish Network had a demo at the MN state fair this year. The guy was really hyping it up. I played around with it a little, I couldn't get anymore than what a 33.6 modem would get, and latency to the gateway was ~750ms. I don't know if the gateway was the satellite, or a ground station. The satellite is 22,000 miles above the equator, hence the high latency.

If a Gilat dish would work for you, you could just do a tunnel with ipsec over it to connect it to the other offices.

Wireless (microwave) gigabit an option?

[wmelick]

Western Multiplex makes radios from 2Mb/sec to 720 Mb/Sec full-duplex, with ethernet 10/100/Gig interfaces. No more latency than a wire network; no bandwidth fall-off. If you get license clearance for higher power, they can do line-of-sight over 40 miles. No license up to 15 miles. Yes, you'd have to build a chain of repeaters, but it is possible. How remote? They make a climate-hardened box with AC, a heater and DC battery backup for harsh environments. Who uses them? Many cell phone companies (Cellular One) put them on mountains where no fiber or wire trunks could go. They might be able to help design a custom solution for you. Call them and ask: 408-542-5200