The Sundance Institute is taking no chances with free wireless Internet this year.
Tens of thousands of wireless users coming together in the mountains for 10 days has traditionally been more than the existing network can handle. Add weather to the equation, and providing reliable cellular phone coverage and Internet access to film festival attendees has been a challenge, explained David Callisch, vice president of marketing for Ruckus Wireless.
That’s why his firm was hired this year to provide what he calls “industrial-strength” Wi-Fi access.
At 12 film festival venues both indoor and outdoor his team has installed 50 access points.
He compared his company’s technology to a high-powered flashlight. Instead of broadcasting a weak signal within a radius, his access points connect directly with users.
“Our antennas shoot a Wi-Fi signal only where it’s needed and steers it around interference,” he said. “It’s two-to-four times the improvement in signal range and a much more reliable and stable connection.”
Callisch works directly with the Sundance Film Festival’s information technology department. His job is to make sure Wi-Fi reliability is not something they have to worry about. To help with that, the access points are adjustable remotely.
The system’s “brain” has been set up in Salt Lake City. Callisch’s team as well as the festival IT department can access that data center or any of the 50 access points from their own computers.
If a user has a complaint, no one needs to go anywhere to fix it. Changes can be done instantly online.
The access points are also able to provide three tiers of service. The general public can use the free Wi-Fi if they’re in range of any of the 12 venues, but VIPs also have access to priority use with greater bandwidth, he said. Staff also has a separate network that requires them to login so the IT department can track who is where doing what.
These multiple networks coming from the same access point guarantee the level of service everyone at the festival expects, Callisch said.