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I saw this oddity at The Cheeseburger Restaurant in Honolulu, Hawaii
I regret not getting closer so that I had a photo of the label that was legible.
The size of the antennas on this unit makes me think it’s not for Wi-Fi but something else. Perhaps for their hand-held order entry tablets or point of sale? On that point though, why not use Wi-Fi for those devices? So maybe it is Wi-Fi afterall.
Even access points can get chilly. This one gets to stay outside the fridge while its antenna is extended inside.
This Cisco 3702i was spotted peeking out from behind the curtain in a conference room at a hotel.
Peekaboo
What’s odd to me is that the whole conference level was already blanketed in WiFi. Why the lone AP casually left on the floor? Also, does anyone else immediately wonder what they would get access to if they plugged their own equipment into a public network port like this?
I didn’t notice the label on the AP until zooming in on the photo (the original, multi-megapixel photo).
Thanks to Colin for this one :)
At a hockey arena in Edmonton, they installed a Cisco AP over the ice, presumably to try and maximize coverage across the whole arena. That makes sense… until you think about the age range of the players.
If you look closely, you can see black smudges on the AP where kids where shooting hockey pucks up at the AP. And it looks like even with the cover over it, the kids are still keen to try and knock it down.
Man, LAX is pretty gnarly. Between taking photos of planes and APs, it's amazing I didn't miss a flight. First off, pretty obvious–at least in Terminal 2– that they're an all-Cisco shop. No shortage of 3702i APs anywhere.
Curiously, they also had a healthy amount of 3802e APs (“e” denotes a model with external antennas).
I’d love to know why they mixed models like this. They even had the two models fairly well intermixed; a specific model was not just in a specific area.
Yes, even in a crowded club with music, food, drinks, and entertainment, I still keep a watchful eye open for them weefees.
This Cisco 3802i AP is mounted on the (low) ceiling as you enter the main room of the Hakkasan Nightclub at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
Hakkasan at CLUS 2017
A colleague of mine, @smoore_bits, was on a trip to the Hoover Dam and spotted something odd on the tour inside the dam: an antenna! Neither of us is sure if it’s Wi-Fi or something else, but regardless, looks like it’s been there for some time.
Antenna inside Hoover Dam
Ok, last of the airport posts for this week. This time, Vancouver International (YVR). Similar to SAN , YVR has Cisco APs providing Wi-Fi coverage in the rental car garage.
YVR Rental Car Garage
Unlike SAN, YVR went with the ruggedized Cisco 1532i AP which can operate in below-freezing temperatures.
What I like most about YVR’s network is their extensive use of the Cisco Hyperlocation Antenna. The 32-element antenna array wraps around the AP and plugs in on the bottom of the AP into the module slot.
Continuing on with this mini series on Wi-Fi at airports, here’s a couple of shots from O’Hare (ORD). ORD seems to be in the middle of either an evaluation/bake-off or a transition between vendors because I saw a healthy amount of Aruba and Cisco in the terminal (I don’t remember which terminal this was in).
Aruba at ORD
This looks like an Aruba AP-228 which, if I’ve identified this correctly, does make some sense because I spotted this unit in the jet bridge getting onto the plane and if you’ve ever walked on/off a plane somewhere in Canada in the dead of winter, you KNOW those things do not have very good temperature control.
Ok, more sightings at an airport! Similar to Calgary International (YYC) , San Diego International (SAN) has APs mounted right outside the terminal along the arrivals/departures road. SAN is using Cisco 1552s.
SAN Taxi Line AP
I’m sure the metal-wrapped cement column does wonders for the signal in the Taxi line. Also not sure why these APs are carrying the SSID for the conference room?
SAN SSIDs
What was cool though was in the rental center garage, there were APs everywhere.
I was recently in Edmonton for work and made a point of going with a colleague (hi SK!) to the brand new Rogers Place stadium to catch an NHL game. This stadium is fully teched out with digital signage, a high capacity, robust IP backbone, and of course, serious Wi-Fi coverage. The stadium offers free Wi-Fi to event attendees and also uses the network for their own services and applications.
Spruce Meadows is an equestrian facility in Calgary, Alberta which hosts multiple well-known horse jumping events throughout the summer. There’s lots to see there, but of course I had one eye peeled for technology ?.
I spotted this Cisco 1532I access point at a distance of a few meters. At that distance, I almost mistook it for a speaker because it’s so small! I guess I’m used-to the larger-sized 1552s. The grey color also didn’t help in identifying it.
It’s not uncommon to see APs in the casinos in Las Vegas , however this one at the Wynn is a little odd in that it’s a) installed on the casino level in plain site, with no attempt to conceal it or blend it in and b) it’s installed just a few inches above the floor.
UBNT at the Wynn Casino Las Vegas
UBNT at the Wynn Casino Las Vegas
Usually you’d expect to find an industrial, IP67-rated access point such as the Cisco IW3702 in a harsh location such as in a manufacturing plant, on mining equipment, or mounted on a pole somewhere outside.
But this unit is located at Calgary International Airport (YYC) in the “A” wing of the Domestic Terminal Building. Specifically, it’s in the long, ground-level hall where passengers board the small, regional WestJet planes.
Cisco IW3702 at YYC in 'A' Hall
The folks that organize and run the network at Cisco Live do an awesome job of making sure there’s Wi-Fi throughout the entire conference location. They also do not skimp out on the number of APs they deploy.
It only happened one time where I was in a room that didn’t have an AP (but there was an AP right outside the door). Every other room had at least one AP.
Cisco Live US 2016 was held in Las Vegas this year which meant the Customer Appreciation Event was held in the brand new T-Mobile Arena. This arena has Cisco Stadium Vision which basically means it’s tricked out with Cisco-powered digital signs and TVs and of course, pervasive Wi-Fi.
At first I couldn’t spot any of the APs or antennas! But then I realized they were carefully installed so as to blend into building.
I went to Duke University!
As a visitor 😁 And naturally I kept an eye out for wireless gear.
One obvious place I found some: at one of the libraries.
At one of Duke University's libraries
At one of Duke University's libraries
Looks like they’re a Cisco shop on campus.
An unexpected place I saw WiFi was at the Duke Chapel.
Duke Chapel
A little UBNT device at the back of the Duke Chapel
From an anonymous contributor at an anonymous location: a “creative installation” in a warehouse:
Anonymous
And yes, I believe that is the permanent mounting position.
The Target department store in Kalispell, MT has a unique flush mount being used in their hanging ceiling. Guessing those are Cisco 1700 or 2700 series APs? I need to get better at identifying these.
Sneaky rogue!
“Did you install an unauthorized access point in the office?”
“Uhmm… no? What antenna? Idon;tknowwhatyou’retalkingabout”
The Fairmont Palliser in Calgary has Meru APs in the lobby.
And then in the guest room I found a little AP under the desk with a wired port off it. Curious why this and not APs in the hallway like most hotels.
Lots of Cisco APs scattered around Seattle Tacoma International Airport.
I did not explore the other wings, but along the “A” gates there are 1552s spread around some of the jet bridges. It’s times like this I wish Apple iOS would accommodate WiFi scanning apps so I could see what networks are present in locations like this. I suspect handheld bag scanners used by the ground crew and possibly content downloads to the aircraft (in-flight movies and music).
Courtesy of the folks at NOBLE WiFi, here are some pics of their Ubiquity installation at the Cliff Hotel and Spa in Negril.
Ubiquity at Cliff Hotel and Spa in Negril, JA
Ubiquity at Cliff Hotel and Spa in Negril, JA
Ubiquity at Cliff Hotel and Spa in Negril, JA
NOBLE provides WiFi to the hotel’s guests, both inside the hotel (common spaces and rooms) and the outside area (like the pool, as shown above).
Hey Bob, we ran out of mounting brackets.
No problem Jim, I’ve got an idea…
I was in a concert hall yesterday and spied two APs in the ceiling, practically on top of each other.
On the left is an Aruba AP from TELUS (their TELUS Direct WiFi) and on the right is a Cisco AP from Shaw (their ShawOpen WiFi).
Anyone want to bet they totally worked together to avoid co-channel interference? 🙄
The Delta Banff Royal Canadian Lodge in Banff Alberta has UBNT everywhere. I like the simple look and lighting of these UniFi line of APs. They remind me of little flying saucers hovering near the ceiling. 👽