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Foot-thick wall workaround: Gigabit network links beamed through solid concrete

(2024/09/06)


Airvine Scientific has a product that could make life easier for IT staff. WaveCore is designed to beam a network signal through thick concrete walls, eliminating the need to drill holes or route your cabling via a circuitous course.

The Silicon Valley wireless company says its newly introduced kit is quick to deploy and can penetrate thick concrete walls and floors in commercial real estate structures.

Drilling a hole for a cabling might mean time-consuming and costly inspections to get permits, and having to to go around it might mean routing cables via the nearest elevator or riser shaft, it says.

[1]

[2]WaveCore is basically a pair of devices that form a point-to-point Ethernet bridge using a wireless signal capable of penetrating up to 12 inches (30 cm) of concrete and brick at multi-gigabit data rates. An Ethernet bridge is simply a way of linking separate network segments, in this case through a thick wall that would otherwise pose an obstacle.

[3]

Concrete walls are an average thickness of 8 inches (20 cm) or more in commercial real estate buildings around the world, the firm says. These types of walls may form the building's outer perimeter, serve as interior load bearing walls or create protection for spaces such as fire control or network server rooms.

Airvine claims that tests with select customers earlier this year delivered results such as a 3 Gbps connection through 8 inches of concrete in the middle of a 54-foot (16 meter) link, and a 4 Gbps connection through a 12 inch (30 cm) concrete wall in a garage that was in the middle of a 6-foot (1.8 meter) link.

[4]

[5]

In a blog post [6]discussing WaveCore , VP of Marketing Dave Sumi explains how it had been developed off the back of an existing product, WaveTunnel, which operates as an indoor wireless backbone in factories, warehouses, conference centers and similar large sites.

This can penetrate most interior walls and bend around corners, but the company says the one obstacle that it just couldn't avoid and get around is thick concrete walls.

[7]

"After being confronted with this reality over the last year, we went back to the lab to see how we could develop a solution that, combined with WaveTunnel, would result in an all-inclusive and pervasive broadband backhaul solution within any large structure. The goal was to be able to provide a 2+ Gbps connection through a minimum of 12 inches of concrete," Sumi says.

[8]The last mile's at risk in our hostile environment. Let’s go the extra mile to fix it

[9]Tech support chap solved knotty disk failure problem by staring at the floor

[10]Cloudflare explains how it managed to break the internet

[11]Do not touch that computer. Not even while wearing gloves. It is a biohazard

The company completed in-house testing in May and over the last few months has been trialing the system with customers, with the results above, Sumi added.

The [12]spec sheet [PDF] for WaveCore indicates that it uses a 6 GHz radio with directional antenna for getting through the walls, plus a standard 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi link for management. The data connection is via a standard Ethernet port supporting 1, 2.5, 5 or 10 Gbps, with an SFP+ fiber connection listed as optional. It can be powered using Power over Ethernet (PoE), but the spec sheet lists the WaveCore power consumption as 36 Watts.

Both WaveTunnel and WaveCore can be managed by the company's VineSuite software for network deployment and operation. ®

Get our [13]Tech Resources



[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZtsnJCNOTMolAxtMZchnAQAAAU0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

[2] https://airvine.com/products/wavecore/

[3] https://regmedia.co.uk/2024/09/06/wc_airvine.jpg

[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZtsnJCNOTMolAxtMZchnAQAAAU0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZtsnJCNOTMolAxtMZchnAQAAAU0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[6] https://airvine.com/introducing-wavecore-wireless-gigabit-backbone-from-airvine/

[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZtsnJCNOTMolAxtMZchnAQAAAU0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/18/opinion_networks/

[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/23/on_call/

[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/21/cloudflare_oops/

[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/29/on_call/

[12] https://cousides.sirv.com/collateral/Airvine-Datasheet-WaveCore-1000RH-Digital.pdf

[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/



Borderlands

Anonymous Coward

Does anyone else thing the logo looks like the borderlands logo?

That sounds great for exfiltrating data.

Anonymous Coward

For network building? It means committing to a permanent power spend, another point of failure, and more noise in the aether. Cute to have should you really really need it, but probably a better idea to try something else first. Like, oh, plastic optical fibre to run along with the high voltage lines if there's no low voltage duct around. Moca. Drill anyway. Fibre around the outsides. Powerli... okay maybe not quite that one. Anyway, point being: This shouldn't be your first port of call.

Also, plenty buildings are getting built or upgraded with isolation that includes metal foil. Probably not a problem for interior walls, but then, those are usually not that much of a problem to drill either.

So, this looks like technology that's a bad sign if you need it. Look hard at not needing it first.

Re: That sounds great for exfiltrating data.

NorthIowan

Concrete walls usually have lots of rebar (iron rods) in them. I would think you'd have to move these links around a few inches/cm to find a good opening.

Lee D

It's a wifi point with a directional antenna.

Save the money and buy... a wifi point with a directional antenna.

Ace2

I [heart] latency

Kev99

Back in the the dark ages (before 1990) many US electric companies used their power distribution lines as telephone and data lines. In the house where we used to live we used TP-Link Powerline kit to get our in house network to the lower level. We never had any problems. With so many building having drop ceilings and false walls, running cable shouldn't be a problem. And if needs be, drilling a 1.5cm hole isn't that hard.

Phil O'Sophical

And if needs be, drilling a 1.5cm hole isn't that hard.

I take it you've never worked in a building with strict fire codes, where even drilling a 0.5cm hole needs an asbestos survey, firewall evaluation, weeks of paperwork, and then can only be cabled with appropriate fire-resistant cable and sealant, by suitably certified facilities staff?

A witty saying proves nothing.
-- Voltaire