What went wrong with Nomad

And did Emtel learn from Nomad’s failure?

NOMAD was a very good idea and marketable product. At least, on paper. But, in practice, there was a BIG snag…

In Mauritius, most houses are built with 6-inch thick concrete blocks with flat reinforced concrete roofs supported by reinforced concrete columns and beams. Windows and doors are fitted with anti-theft steel bars. That’s a lot of metal for radio signals to get past, especially the kind used in WiMax.

And so, the teeny-weeny antenna on the Nomad WiMax modem was not up to the task, which resulted in poor Internet connection for the users. From Nomad Support page:

If your Rabbit Modem’s connection light is blinking red, this means that the signal is not strong enough to connect to the Nomad Wireless Network. To improve the reception of your Rabbit Modem you should try the following:

a. Try changing the orientation of the Rabbit Modem. Changing the angle at which the Rabbit Modem is sitting in can be just as effective as moving the modem to a new position.

b. Move your Rabbit Modem as close as possible to a window and place the modem on an elevated shelf. The further your Rabbit Modem is indoors and away from windows, the weaker the signal may become. Signals may become too weak if they have to penetrate through concrete or metal walls, as well as steel roofs. Note: Glazed windows may contain high levels of metal, which may obstruct signal.

c. If (a) does not work, test your Rabbit Modem in different rooms of your home or building. If the signal becomes a constant red, orange or green color (as opposed to flashinng red), then you are receiving signal in that particular location. In this case, we recommend that you place your Rabbit Modem in that location and extend CAT 5 fibre cable to your computer’s location. Alternatively, we recommend that you re-locate your computer as close as possible to the position where the Rabbit Modem receives a constant signal.

Emtel watched and learned as Nomad tried to cope with the avalanche of abuse from unhappy customers, then launched a better WiMax service to complement their already excellent 3G/HSDPA service.

How does it work?

Emtel Wimax offers a fixed wireless connection for subscribers. The service is offered through an external antenna which is connected to an indoor unit through an Ethernet cable. The external antenna is wirelessly connected to an Emtel Wimax base station.

From the indoor unit, the customer has the possibility to make his own network using a router. A wired or wireless network can be created depending on the type of router used.

Theirs includes an outdoor antenna and an indoor unit to which users connect their computers. Same technology, better implementation and happier customers.

Nomad, watch and learn.

Eddy.

Technological Mauritius, according to the BBC

BBC reports on technological advances in Mauritius

MAURITIUS is not as retarded technologically as some would want us to think.

Proof? These two short video highlights of technology and connectivity in Mauritius from the BBC.

• Fast:Track in Mauritius
• BBC Click on the cyber-island dream

But, there is a caveat, it seems. The average Mauritian not holidaying at the Taj Exotica would be hard-pressed to get connected with the same ease.

Eddy.