Thursday, April 10
DCI's work to upgrade backhaul connections between towers is continuing. This week, they've worked with Motorola to update their plans and the legwork is being done to allow for changes to equipment on towers where needed.
In the meantime, several towers on the as-yet-untried western side of the network were cleared today for Alpha testing. We'll begin those tests with the Audubon tower, between Henderson and Owensboro, and we'll be scheduling the first of the Alpha installations off that tower for next week. Other towers planned for Alpha testing include (in order) Dixon, Hearin-Bordley, Uniontown, Sugartree and Henderson South.
Plans for setting up Alpha tests on towers beyond Audubon will be made next week. We'll send out more details to our email list and post updates regarding testing here as things progress.
Monday, March 31
We're obviously well overdue an update here, so let's catch up on what's gone on over the past month.
A pair of issues surfaced as availability was to be expanded from the initial set of towers. First, the backhaul connections from tower to tower -- the backbone data paths of the network -- proved to be working at low efficiency, carrying only about 60% of the traffic they should be carrying. Second, tests and installations in several areas that should be serviceable were failing (even inside the "green" areas) at unacceptable rates.
To address the latter, three-way testing involving CC, GRADD and DCI was conducted to investigate the problems. Many sites where CC tests or installations had failed were revisited to determine the reason for the failures. Some questions were answered and some new ones were raised, but the data collected is being used now as part of an overall network evaluation.
Also, earlier this month, the backhaul connectivity issues surfaced twice when tower-to-tower connections were lost, leading to outages in some served areas. As a result of those events and the link efficiency shortcomings, all three parties agreed on March 21, when the test results were being reviewed, to temporarily delay further expansion of the network until the backhaul issues can be remedied. With that, DCI is taking test results and further work on the backhaul radios to create a revised plan for correcting the backhaul problems and will be presenting that to GRADD this Friday.
So currently, new areas are not being turned up until the backhaul issues are addressed and further tower installations are on hold while DCI updates its network plans. All three parties will give and get updates this Friday and work should resume under the new plans next week.
We'll send out a detailed update to our email list Friday afternoon, after the meeting. We'll also post an update here regarding the plans and schedule by next week, when things firm up again.
Monday, February 18
More areas have now been released for service. In addition to the areas noted in the Jan. 30 update (below), we're now taking orders from persons living in some areas north, east and south of the Pleasant Ridge and Taffy towers. As with the other locations previously opened, anyone within 10 miles of those towers but not in the "green" areas that have been released for order-taking can request a test at their home to confirm signal availability.
To place an order from an opened area, request a test from a "gray" area, or to have your address checked and/or your contact info added to our email list, just call us at 1-877-472-3341.
To the west, DCI completed work on the Robards tower last week and it's being tested this week. Assuming initial tests are successful, Robards will provide backhaul connectivity to several other towers on the western side of the network and we'll begin Alpha tests in many parts of Union, Webster and Henderson counties very soon, we expect next week. Installation work continues this week on the Slaughters and Elba towers, with Providence and Henderson North next in line, being tentatively scheduled for next week.
Wednesday, January 30
Big news for parts of Daviess, Hancock, Mclean and Ohio counties this week. As testing continues in some areas we are now taking orders in limited areas where we've had consistently successful test results.
Persons who live in or near the areas below can now call and order service. Six towers are now opened and providing service. We're taking orders from locations within the specified distances of each of these towers:
Lewisport: 3 mile radius
Windy Hollow: 6 miles
Livermore: 7 miles
Sacramento: 7 miles
Scottown: 4 miles
Baizetown: 4 miles
Additionally, anyone within 10 miles of any of those towers can have their location tested, and where tests are successful we will take orders for service.
To check your location, you can use this map:
The active towers are marked in green, and clicking on them will display both the pre-approved areas and the range where tests will be needed.
To place an order for service, or request a test out to the 10-mile range, just call us at 1-877-472-3341, Monday-Friday, from 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
More areas are expected to go into testing and be released soon. Keep checking here for more information, or to get updates as soon as they're available, sign up for our email list by calling that same number.