It's got something to do with rockets

We get asked about our company name from time to time and so in this post talk about its origins. Asking how we came to choose RedButton as our company name is a fair question. After all, we are a WiFi hotspot company and there are an infinite number of other concoctions we could have come up with that more clearly indicate that we are in the wireless Internet business.

The origin's of the name RedButton stems back from Nico's post-grad days (Nico is one of RedButton's co-founders). Red Button Solutions was the generic name given to a software house that was to develop mobile applications for smart phones. The idea of starting this firm was put on ice and revived at least once but never truly got off the ground. The initial attraction to a red button was that a red button would generally indicate that something of note would occur once pressed. As an example buttons that launch rockets tend to be red and anybody that has seen a Soyuz rocket launch would attest to the momentousness of the occasion.



When RedButton was in its infancy, its founders debated what the name should be, in the end it was between WiTech and RedButton. We thought the former would just be another random company name and in particular be difficult to remember. We chose RedButton and have never looked back.

Hassle Free Networking on Ubuntu with NetworkManager

In this post, the first in a series covering various platforms (Linux, Windows, Mac), we look at networking on Ubuntu Linux using NetworkManager. We primarily use Ubuntu Linux at RedButton and so its only natural that NetworkManager comes under the spotlight first.

NetworkManager is the network configuration tool that you will generally use to connect to wireless and wired networks. The tool is there to make networking easy or pain-free and the official design goals are simplicity, visual clarity and automation. We believe it performs admirably in all departments, especially when considering the needs of the average desktop user who simply wants to get connected to their local office network or hotspot.

In order to use NetworkManager, or to see whether you are already using it, have a look at your network settings. Click on System > Administration > Network and the Network Settings screen will open. On most laptops you will see a Wireless connection and Wired connection under the Connections tab and perhaps even a Modem connection as is displayed below.



If NetworkManager is being used to manage the connection, you will see Roaming mode enabled displayed as you do with the Wired connection in the image above. As you can see, the Wireless connection displays something different and is thus not managed by NetworkManager, so we select the Wireless connection and click on Settings to see the following screen pop up.


Click on Enable roaming mode and the wireless and connection settings are no longer configurable, as is shown in the image below, as you will now be using NetworkManager to manage your network settings.


After you have done the above, you will click on the network icon that would usually be in the top right hand portion of your screen as is shown below.


Assuming that you want to connect to your local WiFi network, right click and select Enable Wireless:


Next click on the icon to view the list of available networks and select the network you want to connect to:

In the example shown above a connection has been made to RedButton Internet and it is an unencrypted network, as hotspots generally are since you authenticate using a web interface. You would be prompted for a passphrase or network key when connecting to an encrypted network.

There is more to NetworkManager, but mostly its operation is automated and intuitive. We leave you to discover the rest of it and enjoy networking on Ubuntu.

Here's looking at you next generation WiFi

Things are hotting up in the South African broadband landscape. The list of commercially available technologies is growing rapidly and truly getting to grips with the intricacies of each technology is something most consumers are unlikely to be interested in. Quality of service is the bottom line. Can I get the service that I need at the right price? That is the question. It's also a question we are not going to answer, in the context hotspots powered by next generation WiFi, until the very end of this post.

WiFi is effectively a set of wireless LAN (local area network) standards called the IEEE 802.11 standards. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is the body that does the standardisation and it is generally a lengthy process. The current WiFi standards are 802.11b and 802.11g with the latter offering higher data rates. The next generation of WiFi is 802.11n and it is not officially a standard yet not only due to standardisation being time consuming but also for various other reasons [1][2]. Even though it is not a standard yet, equipment manufacturers have begun making routers [3] that support the draft standard. The logo shown at the top of this post is what one should look for when buying such a router and the inclusion of the n with the word draft next to it means that the equipment has been certified, by the Wi-Fi Alliance, to be a router that is Wi-Fi Certified 802.11n draft 2.0 (click to get the official take on the meaning of the logo and term). The 802.11n standard is expected to be ratified by the IEEE by the end of this year.

Having touched on the status of 802.11n, lets jump straight to the key differentiators of 802.11n, what can it do for us all? The key advantages are:

• Improved range - areas in a venue that would previously have had no or poor signal quality should have improved coverage when a certified 802.11n router is used as a drop in replacement for a 802.11b/g router
  
• Improved performance - 802.11n offers higher data rates and speeds ranging from 100 - 200Mbps have been reported [3]. Multimedia applications, such as streaming video, require more bandwidth or "fatter pipes" and 802.11n delivers on these requirements. They not only require more bandwidth but also performance characteristics such as lower latency and 802.11n has the ability to deliver on this requirement.
  

Having mentioned that 802.11n offers improved range and performance, the next questions that come to mind are how much improvement is on offer and also, for the technically inclined, how is the improvement achieved?

To answer the first, with regards to range, a ball park figure is that 802.11n offers twice the range as 802.11b/g in the same environment. It is not possible to give a precise figure as every room or building is different, the material used in construction and other environmental aspects will affect the exact increase in range. The frequency used also effects the range but more on that later. From RedButton's perspective this is good news as it would make delivering on our commitment to providing signal coverage in all relevant areas of venues that much easier. With regards to bandwidth, one can expect roughly five times the throughput. This is certainly attractive when it comes to locally hosted services and activities such as streaming video on the local area network. At RedButton however we currently isolate clients from one another for security reasons and do not host any video services on our local area networks. That being said we still welcome the increase in throughput as at certain locations, where we have as many as 3 concurrent 4Mbps ADSL lines powering a single hotspot, clients would see improved performance when it comes to Internet access.

With regards to the technicalities behind 802.11n, we'll just touch on the key points, for in-dept , academic coverage, O'REILLY's 802.11 Wireless Networks is a good source. The key technical enhancements of 802.11n are:

1. MIMO technology: This stands for "Multiple-in, Multiple-out" and involves the use of multiple antennas to send and receive more than one signal simultaneously.
   
2. Effective use of multiple frequency bands: With 802.11b/g the 2.4GHz frequency band was used exclusively, with 802.11n both the 2.4GHz and the 5GHz frequency band are used [4]. The increases in performance offered by 802.11n have largely been seen when using the 5GHz band [3], not the 2.4GHz band.

We are quite excited about 802.11n and there is no doubt that we'll use it when most new laptops start shipping with 802.11n cards built in. This is only likely to happen once the 802.11n standard has been ratified by the IEEE and so only in the first or second quarter of 2009.

Can I get the service that I need at the right price?

Since the next generation WiFi, 802.11n, is only likely to start being widely adopted in 2009, the question is will I be able to get the service I need at the right price? When it comes to the service one needs, each person has different requirements but its a safe bet that each hotspot client wants good signal strength in all areas of a venue and an Internet that is as fast as possible. First of all, a 802.11n hotspot would still need to be powered by an Internet backbone (whether its WiMax, ADSL, satellite, iBurst, Neotel CDMA, metro Ethernet, the list goes on) and it's difficult to predict what prices will be like in 2009, we do know that they will drop. That being said with 802.11n from a hotspot operators perspective the capital expenditure at each hotspot is likely to be less as fewer routers would be required to provide the same coverage as with 802.11b/g routers. So in conclusion, we predict that you will be getting vastly superior service levels at significantly lower rates in 2009 and the deployment of 802.11n is likely to be a factor in price reductions.

Happy New Year

To all our customers, suppliers and friends, wishing you happy and prosperous 2008!

Thank-you for your support

At RedButton we are looking forward to a year in which we bring even more value to our customers, not only in terms of the quality and convenience of our offering, but also in terms of an exciting new product line. Thank-you for your support in 2007 and we are looking forward to serving you in 2008.

New trends?

When it comes to Wi-Fi in 2008, we'll no doubt continue to see it becoming more ubiquitous. For example have you heard of the Toyota A-Bat? It's a hybrid concept vehicle that appears to sport an internal Wi-Fi access point, all you'd need is some backbone technology (e.g. 3G, WiMAX) to turn your A-Bat into your private local area network or mobile hotspot. Lets see if 2008 will see such vehicles going into production.

Special mention

In particular we would like to extend our best wishes to all WAPA members with regards to the license conversion process at ICASA. WAPA is an a set of backbone (technically called wide area network) wireless Internet service providers who have for many years provided Internet services to end-users and service providers such as ourselves. In a nutshell, 2008 should be the year in which most WAPA members will know whether they will be licensed to provide backbone Internet connections.

To delve into further detail, WAPA members, who all have VANS licenses, have been informed that their licenses are to be converted to a type of license (ECS) that is not sufficient for providing backbone Internet connections, an ECNS license will be required. ICASA, the communications authority of South Africa, recently announced that it

has decided that VANs will in the first instance be converted to ECS and that a competitive process will be followed in respect of granting VANS the right to acquire ECNS as per the Ministerial Directive. An Invitation To Apply (ITA) to this effect will be issued in January 2008. Consequently a separate matrix for VANS (ECNS applications) will be published once interested parties have responded to the ITA and submissions have been evaluated. The Authority will hold public hearings in March 2008 in order to fast track this process

View From The Top - Marking 2 Years of Service at The Tudor Hotel

The Tudor Hotel, primely situated in Cape Town's historic Greenmarket Square, is the oldest hotel in Cape Town and probably one of the oldest in South Africa. It is also RedButton's first client with the initial installation having taken place two years ago in December 2005.

The photo below is a great view of Greenmarket square, taken from the top of The Tudor Hotel. Credit for the photo goes to Neal Tosefsky, outbound logistics manager at RedButton.



As an aside, with the hotel having been built in 1870, that means we've had it covered for 2 years of its 137 year life span. Since we're on history and since 2 out of 137 doesn't sound that great let's try to put the 2 year span in context.

The Internet became commercially available in South Africa in the mid 90s with the Internet Service Providers' Association being formed in 1996. Although WiFi was born in 1991, broadband only truly became available in South Africa in early 2003 with Telkom releasing ADSL. So effectively we've had the Tudor Hotel covered for 2 out of 5 years possible years, a statement that tells a different story.

To this day the Tudor continues to enjoy the high service levels, competent customer support and ongoing system improvements that have established RedButton as the leading hotspot service provider in South Africa.

WiFi loses out to 3G/HSDPA? Not Quite.

In a recent article on the popular South African myadsl.co.za website, WiFi loses out to 3G/HSDPA, the author states that "Commercial WiFi hotspots face a dim future in South Africa unless prices are reduced to compete with 3G/HSDPA rates." In this post we comment on this article.

The article is based on research done by World Wide Worx and we believe this research has significant shortcomings. In addition, the article fails to point out the types of users commercial hotspots in hotels may be serving, that is tourists who may only be in a location for a limited time period. When it comes to corporate use of commercial hotspots, it is no doubt correct that South African corporates are increasingly using 3G / HSDPA rather than hotspots, with this use-case however, the cited research is comparing apples with pears.

To discuss the first point, there are now many hotspots available in South Africa that charge very reasonable rates, on a per Megabyte basis. As an example, at a recent hotel where we installed a hotspot we charge 60c per Megabyte on a 4Mbps ADSL connection, with a minimum purchase amount of R30 (i.e. 50MB), no contract, subscriptions, installation or activation fees are required - it's conveniently prepaid and a very good deal. Since billing is on a per Megabyte basis users can surf at their leisure. Also, there is no need to go out and buy an expensive (in the region of R2000 last time we checked) 3G / HSDPA modem or sign a 24 month contract.

About the article failing to point out the types of users hotspots may be targeting, this is an important point. If you are in the country for a limited time period, that is days to months, it is simply much more convenient to use a hotspot. It might not be cheaper if time billing is used, and to give credit where credit is due, the article does correctly point out that a large portion of hotspots in South Africa charge exorbitant rates. RedButton hotspots certainly do not fall into this category. We wrote a case study on the costs of hotspots in South Africa a couple of months ago, naturally the article assumes the user is at a RedButton hotspot.

Our final comment is on the cited research comparing corporate usage of commercial WiFi hotspots with that of 3G / HSDPA. The comparison is irrelevant for the simple reason that each technology serves a different purpose, WiFi is designed for local area networks, 3G is a technology designed for wide area networks. Regardless of pricing it is only natural that South African corporates with sales reps will use 3G because they need to be connected in most conceivable locations, 3G largely fulfills this requirement. When it comes to providing well priced, quality Internet in a local area for temporary overseas visitors, our commercial hotspots do and will continue to beat 3G hands down.

Bend Wireless Internet Any Way You Want It

At RedButton we believe in flexibility and have worked hard to make sure that our solution is just that, flexible. We also believe in making life easier and so have automated features that should be automated.

Our commitment to both aspects, flexibility and automation, is where our Bend Wireless Internet Any Way You Want It mantra stems from. Our ability to deliver on what we believe in comes from over a years worth of investment into research and development. This investment continues unabated today with 40% of our company's resources dedicated to R&D and fostering innovation.

So what's new? Well, in this post we'll be giving examples of how RedButton's flexible hotspot solution gives you the ability to attract and keep customers. We have made it particularly easy to:

• Run automated promotions – give away any amount of free Internet effortlessly
  


• Build your brand – prominent branding on hotspot portal page and vouchers
  

Since a picture tells a thousand words, lets go straight to the examples. The first is that of an automated promotion with a standard hotspot portal page. The hotspot with the portal page displayed below has been configured to give each user 5 Megabytes worth of Internet free on a daily basis.


With our solution a hotspot can be configured to give away any amount of free Internet on a once-off, daily, weekly or monthly basis. Naturally one can configure the hotspot to give each user unlimited free Internet too. The great thing about giving away only small amount as a promotion is that service levels remain high. With a 5MB promotion for example, a user can have a coffee, check their email and then move on. If they need to use more than their alloted free amount they can purchase prepaid credits using the online credit card or a voucher facility.

The second example is that of a branded hotspot portal page. It differs from the standard RedButton portal page in that it is entirely designed to build the brand of the establishment. The colour scheme, title, logo, end-user charge and set of pictures are all configurable. In addition to the portal page, vouchers can be branded with venue and reseller branding too.


Finally, if you are wondering who the You is in Bend Wireless Internet Any Way You Want It, it's our customers and affiliates. If you are interested in becoming either, don't hesitate to contact us.