BelAir and Viasys Deploy Wi-Fi in La Palmilla Resort Los Cabos, Mexico




Luxury Resort Goes Wireless in Less Than 10 Days

Los Angeles ? HITEC -/June 21, 2005 - Wi-Fi Technology News/- Guests and employees at Kerzner International?s One & Only La Palmilla Resort Los Cabos, Mexico can now wirelessly surf the Internet, access e-mail, and connect to secure private networks from anywhere on the resort property over a new wide-area wireless infrastructure from BelAir Networks and Viasys Network Services.

Located at the tip of the Baja California peninsula, between San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, the 172-room beachside La Palmilla Resort includes a world class golf course, several restaurants, and a spa. Recently, resort management decided to add property-wide wireless broadband to its list of guest services and to support internal operations. The wireless network it envisioned needed to provide carrier-grade data coverage for the entire property without detracting from the stunning aesthetics of the location.

After an intensive competitive review, La Palmilla selected a joint BelAir/Viasys Solution because it provided complete coverage with minimal hardware, it required only a few days for deployment, it could be deployed with no disruption to guests or employees, and it was designed to seamlessly blend into the existing landscape. In addition, the BelAir/Viasys Solution proved to be more cost-effective than traditional wireless networking options.

?The specific challenges involved in deploying broadband Wi-Fi at a resort like La Palmilla is where BelAir?s solution excels,? said Lance McNeill, CEO of Viasys. ?The company?s multi-radio, multi-service mesh architecture enabled us to provide complete, broadband Wi-Fi access by projecting Wi-Fi into the rooms from the outside ?without disrupting hotel guests or the surrounding environment.?

Viasys deployed a combination of 16 BelAir200 Wireless Multi-service Switch Routers and BelAir100 Wireless Multi-service Nodes mounted discreetly on light poles, buildings, and even palm trees to provide a broadband wireless network for the entire resort. The network can now be accessed from anywhere on the in the hotel or on the resort grounds.

"La Palmilla Resort is a high-profile destination and it needed a network that could guarantee a consistent, quality of wireless service for guests and employees,? said Phil Belanger, Vice-President of Marketing, BelAir Networks. ?The Viasys/BelAir partnership was able to exceed La Palmilla?s coverage and capacity requirements, as well as its aesthetic, quality, and service expectations?all in a matter of days."

?La Palmilla Resort is one of those extraordinary resorts that guests rarely have a bad thing to say about,? said Marco Sainz, IT director of the resort. ?We are dedicated to the complete satisfaction and enjoyment of our leisure and business customers, so it was critical that we choose partners? such as Viasys and BelAir? that could support that objective.?

The network at La Palmilla resort includes seven BelAir200 units connected via a wireless backhaul mesh to nine BelAir100 units used as edge nodes or at places where the wireless mesh was terminated.

The BelAir200 is a four-radio, wireless multi-service switch router that is built specifically for outdoor deployments. Each BelAir200 includes an access radio module that uses the 2.4 GHz band to support Wi-Fi client access. The access radio is connected to integrated antennas that project Wi-Fi signals over wide open areas and directly into multi-story buildings from the outside. This design eliminates the need for, and associated cost of, indoor access points.

Every BelAir200 can also be configured with up to three separate 5.8 GHz backhaul radio modules. These radios and their associated antennas are used to connect multiple BelAir200 systems in a wireless backhaul mesh that takes client traffic to and from the Internet. The resulting system will delivers unmatched capacity, security and scalability to the luxury resort.

The BelAir100 is a two-radio, wireless multi-service node that accepts the same radio modules as the BelAir200. It can be used to terminate a BelAir mesh, as a mesh edge node, or to provide wireless broadband access to single buildings.

BelAir?s products are focused on wide-area Wi-Fi today, but the unique multi-radio wireless backhaul mesh architecture can also be applied to other wireless technologies such as WiMAX and cellular.