UK Airports and 802.11a/g

I was wondering if anyone could provide me with some guidenlines for the use of 802.11b/g technology at and around airports.

Any help appreciated !

Drop the ZZZ to reply

Cheers ...

The same guidelines as when using wireless at a certain chain of coffee shops in the UK.

Most BAA operated airports have hotspots with BT Openzone.

I found this while searching for wi-fi info:

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------------ Date Feb 26 2004 Wi-Fi in Europe's airports Wireless Quilts

by Jim_Downing at 02:43 PM British Telecom(BT) has recently announced that it would provide wireless internet access in 80 British Airways lounges around the globe within the next few months while last month, T-Mobile began offering Wi-Fi service at the Cologne-Bonn Airport. Since December, passengers have been able to log on at Budapest's Ferihegy Airport the International Herald Tribune reports.A senior analyst at the market research company IDC,Evelien Wiggers is quoted as saying "Last year the main airports got it, and now it is going to the lesser airports," In a recent report, she estimated that the number of public wireless Internet access points, or hot spots, increased from just more than 1,000 in Europe at the end of 2002 to 7,000 by last October. Over the same period, the number of airport hot spots doubled, from 54 to 118. High time for Wi-Fi at airports in Europe

18 months old.

To use your laptop in an airport lounge you just need a wireless card but I think you've picked that up now. :)

Cisco make good cards although you pay for them. There are other good cards out there too.

David.

Sorry for the dealy in updating my original request for information on this.

I need to install a wireless bridge link (point - point using yagi's) between two buildings but this would mean that the signal would directly cross a small airport runway.

My question is regarding potential inteferance to and/or from the airport radio equipment as I obviuosly don't want to cause any crashes etc.

I have contacted the Civil Aviation Authority but have received no reply as yet.

Drop the ZZZ to reply

Cheers ...

The local general aviation airport:

a fairly extensive 2.4Ghz wireless private LAN that some pilots use in their hangars. There are also at least 5 point to point links that I know about going to nearby businesses. I don't know how many client radios are deployed but I would get well over 100. The protocol is to inform the airport managers office that you have a radio system and supply your contact information. It's considered bad form to leave the WLAN running when there's nobody in the hangar so most users turn off their radios when absent. I've been marginally involved in trying to locate some interference sources in the past. So far, none of the 2.4GHz equipment has been found to cause a problem. No clue how it's done in UK.

Unlikely you'd have any effect on anything flying or on the ground. Contrary to popular film myth, aircraft don't fall out of the sky due to the odd radio transmission. You're far more likely to have an air accident due to pilots stamping on each others radio transmissions and thus an imporant "avoid the following mid air collision that's about to happen chaps!" message getting through. Most light aircraft have few electronic systems and virtually none that control the aircraft. Larger aircraft have more electronics but better protected.

How many aircraft do you think fly on a daily basis where people forget to turn off their wireless PDA or mobile phone?

Don't hold your breath on dealing with the CAA either.

David.

Agreed. The powers at 2.4GHz are far lower than anything like the airport's own radar, assuming legal operation and no burners bolted onto the output. Passengers' mobiles would be far closer and even these are just a scare story.

It's no different Jeff, it's still an unlicensed band and the CAA have no real authority over it. All the CAA are concerned with is protecting the frequencies for the navaids and VHF/UHF radios for communications.

David.