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UK Broadband Users Warned: Don’t Switch Routers Off at Night!

Last year, broadband service provider Virgin Media (O2) undertook a censuswide survey of over 2000 UK based customers. The survey revealed that 18% of those who responded switch their router off overnight. 

In the current climate, we wouldn’t blame you if you were scrutinising every appliance and electric unit in your home, sussing out what’s eating up electricity and identifying where savings can be made. 

Consumer electronics account for 6-7% of our energy bills. Think laptops, games consoles, televisions. These devices, when left on standby, can gobble up more electricity than you might think. Many people turn these things off when not in use – But what about things that stay on all the time, like your router? With the prevalence of smart homes comes the need for constant Wi-Fi connection – When is the internet never not in use in your home?

You might think that it’s not needed at night, but if you have smartphones, odds are that when they are connected to Wi-Fi and plugged in to charge overnight, said smartphones complete important updates. 

Switching off your router at night could actually have quite a number of unintended consequences, for both your router itself and other devices. 

Should I Turn My Router Off Overnight to Save Electricity? 

Forums dedicated to saving energy and money might have suggested turning your electricals off overnight to save electricity – Including your router. But Internet Service Providers are warning against this. 

For the small amount of money it could save, it may actually cause a lot of disruption. 

  • Many routers receive security updates overnight so as not to cause any issues during the day. If you switch your router off every single night, then you could miss one of these security updates which could cause issues later down the line with device vulnerability.
  • Desperate to stay up to date with the latest Sky series but can’t stay awake long enough to watch it in real time? Then you might be someone who ‘series links’ your shows so you never have to miss a moment. Except – In order for Sky (other providers are available) to be able to record said show, the TV needs to be connected to the internet. And oops – You switched the router off before you went to bed. No show for you.
  • Do you charge your smartphone overnight? Most use this opportunity to update to the latest software. If you’re not connected to the Wi-Fi then it likely won’t make any necessary updates. Likewise, if your phone stays on overnight, any notifications like WhatsApp or social media platforms will connect via your data rather than Wi-Fi which could result in your using up your data sooner than expected. 

Are these massive issues that you couldn’t possibly cope with? No, probably not. But if you’re used to things just quietly and consistently running in the background – Updates, show recordings, notifications – You might need to consider whether switching off your router overnight would work for you. 

Switching Off Router Overnight Could Disrupt Connectivity

It’s also important to remember that most homes use broadband connections that are based off older style copper broadband lines (for example ADSL2+) or a hybrid of fibre optic and copper (e.g. FTTC / VDSL). These often use DLM technology (Dynamic Line Management) and its associated services.

A potential issue with these services is its negative response to repeatedly getting disconnected and having to reboot the router. DLM services may detect this ‘turning off’ as connection problems, resulting in it making the connection slower. To avoid this kind of connectivity issue, it’s generally recommended to keep the router switched on. 

A typical home broadband router uses between 5 and 20 watts of power, which can cost between £0.03 and £0.14 per day. This adds up to roughly £10 to £50 per year on your energy bill. 

So turning off your router for an average of 9 hours per night isn’t going to save you much cash at all, at the expense of good connectivity, device security and efficiency of updates. 

Of course, it’s completely a personal preference but we’d agree with the ISP’s – Keep your router turned on. 

by admin
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Wi-Fi 7 Is The Future of Wireless Technology – Here’s Why

We see upgrades all the time in the tech world – They’re almost constant! As soon as one upgrade launches, the next is already on the horizon. But Wi-Fi 7 isn’t just going to be the latest in Wi-Fi standards while we wait for the next one – Wi-Fi 7 is a massive leap from Wi-Fi 6 and brings with it huge upgrades for our digital world.  

Wi-Fi 7 is a monumental evolution from Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E, giving us:

  • Faster speeds
  • Lower latency
  • Significant capacity increases 

What we need from wireless technology is ever increasing, and whilst Wi-Fi 7 is very similar to its Wi_Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E predecessors, it will be able to meet the growing data requirements of both home and business users through key significant improvements. 

Are you looking to upgrade your hardware to Wi-Fi 7? It’s a very real consideration now that Wi-Fi 7 routers are on the market. So what do you need to know about Wi-Fi 7 to help make up your mind?

What’s Different About The Wi-Fi 7 Standard?

Speed

Perhaps the overriding feature of the new Wi-Fi 7 standard is the speed – Wi-Fi 7 is considerably faster performance wise when compared to Wi-Fi 6. 

Faster internet connections are continually offered by ISP’s for both home use and businesses. How does your local network support the increased download speed? Wi-Fi 7, ensuring there is enough capacity. 

How are these speed improvements made possible? Wi-Fi 7 has 2 major upgrades that help with speed:

  • Doubling the channel width from 160Hz to 320Hz
  • More data density, which increases the amount of data that can be encoded onto a radio signal 

Bigger Channel Width

Within each Wi-Fi band are small bands in which they operate – 20/ 40/ 80/ 160MHz. These are used to connect to individual devices. 

With Wi-Fi 7, the bandwidth is doubled to 320MHz. This means that the Wi-Fi speeds to individual devices are doubled, whilst also adding more bandwidth so more devices can be supported.  

Increased Data Density

So far we’ve seen how Wi-Fi 7 increases both speed and bandwidth. In addition to this, Wi-Fi 7 can also increase the amount of data that can be encoded onto a radio signal. 

This is where a standard called QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) comes in. The amount of data that can be encoded onto a radio signal is measured by QAM. The QAM limit for Wi-Fi 6 was 1024, whereas Wi-Fi 7 offers 4096 (also known as 4K or 4K QAM). 

Throughput is increased by boosting its peak rates. For each symbol transmitted, 12 bits can now be carried instead of 10 bits – a 20% higher theoretical transmission rate. 

The 2.4x improvement in Wi-Fi speeds between Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7 comes from the greater channel bandwidth (320MHz) and increased data density (4K QAM). 

Multi-Link Operation (MLO)

The 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi bands are supported by the Wi-Fi 6 standard and previous generations. Wi-Fi 6E then brought a major additional feature by supporting the 6GHz band which offered a new way to connect that avoided the congestion of 2.4GHz and 5GHz. This provided a real boost for urban areas where there can be many Wi-Fi networks in range. 

Up until now, a client could only connect using one of these bands on Wi-Fi technology. Wi-Fi changes this – Wi-Fi 7 routers can connect to a client device across 2 different bands. 

In simple terms, it’s like having two routes on a map to get you to your destination, and the traffic flow can be moved between the two. This flexibility means that traffic can either be split across both routes, or moved from one route to the other if there is congestion. 

Mesh systems take this a step further and benefit even more from MLO. It gets the best performance by allowing a router and a satellite the capability to transmit simultaneously across two different bands. 

This particular feature will allow a mobile device to not drop a connection by switching from one band to another. For example, imagine you are working from home and hop on a Zoom call. This feature will allow your device to move from 6GHz to 5GHz to 2.4GHz whilst you walk from the middle of your house out to the garden without the call buffering or dropping out. Sounds good, right?

Flexible Channel Utilisation

Let’s talk about interference. One of the main limitations when it comes to i-Fi is how big an impact interference can have on a whole channel. This is where ‘puncturing’ comes in. Puncturing is when an affected portion of the channel can be blocked whilst the rest of the channel can still be used for data transfer. In this way, Wi-Fi can be made more resistant to interference, ensuring critical flow and lower latency. 

If we go back to our map analogy – Imagine one of the routes has a pothole making it unusable. Puncturing with Wi-Fi 7 would mean that the pothole could be blocked and the traffic could go round it, keeping use of the route. 

What Elements of Wi-Fi 7 Have Stayed The Same As Previous Wi-Fi Standards?

As we’ve just covered, there are some brilliant new specifications with Wi-Fi 7 that make this Wi-Fi standard pretty special. 

However, we shouldn’t overlook the features and infrastructure that the previous Wi-Fi standard already offers and how Wi-Fi 7 builds on these. 

We mentioned above how Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 both offer the same 3 bands, including the super fast 6GHz band. They both also feature huge bandwidth. 

Let’s also remember that these new and enhanced features are only as good as the device we’re accessing them on. Tech providers are still currently catching up with Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 – We need these new devices to fully be able to unlock the full potential of both of these standards.  

Many mobile devices are still using Wi-Fi 6 or earlier standards. The most up to date devices from Apple now support Wi-Fi 6E, as well as many of the latest Windows laptops and Android phones. 

The future of the digital world is Wi-Fi 7, so we would expect a swift adoption of this new standard across wireless devices, especially laptops and phones with announcements of new devices supporting Wi-Fi 7 already appearing.  

Wi-Fi 7 for Business Use

Now might be the time to consider making an investment in a new mesh system or Wi-Fi 7 supported router to help future-proof your wireless network and ensure you’ll have the most robust wireless performance for your business. 

Whether you’re a small or large business, these environments can massively benefit from the new features that Wi-Fi 7 has to offer. Future proofing the connectivity of your business is critical. 

As we’ve laid out above, you can improve performance and productivity through added capacity and bandwidth from Wi-Fi 7, supporting a greater number of wireless devices across your business. 

If you’re responsible for the network of your business, then you’ll already know that there are many considerations to make:

  • Reliability
  • Security 
  • Ease of deployment 

It’s only natural as an IT manager, to be cautious of introducing any type of risk to a working environment. Therefore, the final certification of the Wi-Fi 7 standard earlier this year is important to guarantee a consistent feature set in all devices.

There are many areas of a business that will likely benefit from the enhanced performance that Wi-Fi 7 has to offer, like:

  • IP cameras
  • Access points
  • IoT devices
  • Business routers 
  • Workers devices 

Could Wi-Fi 7 improve efficiency across your entire business? Will you be investing in new Wi-Fi 7 supported devices for your business? Let us know what you think. 

by admin
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Broadband Boost for 300K+ Rural Homes with £800m Government Pledge 

If you live or work in a remote area in England, Scotland or Wales then you may unfortunately know all to well that many remote areas across the UK are left with slow internet speeds, causing a digital divide between rural and urban areas. 

The UK Government aims to tackle this problem that 312,000 rural homes face, by investing £800 million in upgrading broadband infrastructure for those affected. 

The Government’s digital strategy is to achieve full gigabit broadband coverage across the UK by 2030, of which this investment will be a part. 

Rural Regions Struggle to Connect

The CEO of the Digital Poverty Alliance, Elizabeth Anderson, has spoken about how millions across England, Scotland and Wales are still struggling to access even some of the basic online services due to poor connectivity. This is especially prevalent in rural areas. Anderson is pleased to see ‘the government’s renewed push to roll out improved broadband.”

Strong, reliable internet isn’t a luxury or a ‘nice to have’ commodity. In today’s digital world, broadband internet is a necessity and should and is considered to be an important utility, just like electricity and heating. 

Anderson says, “Connectivity must be viewed as a core part of modern life in the digital age…, and continued investment such as this project is needed to ensure millions aren’t left digitally excluded.”

Gaps in coverage must be addressed so that rural communities have the same access to online services as those in urban areas. Nowadays, many essential services such as healthcare and education are moving online so having the necessary connectivity to reach these services is vital. 

High-Speed Connections Must Be Affordable

Making sure rural properties have accessible high-speed internet connections isn’t the only hurdle that digital poverty work needs to tackle – It’s the cost too. 

Once these connections to high speed broadband are made available to those in more remote areas of England, Scotland and Wales, the Government must also ensure that the monthly costs of having these connections are affordable. 

We continue to be in a cost-of-living crisis, and it’s important that costs of high-speed internet doesn’t inhibit connecting people in rural areas. 

Rural Areas Left Behind in Digital Revolution

It’s clear that harder to reach areas in rural are remote locations across England, Scotland and Wales have been somewhat left behind when it comes to digital revolution and the Government is aiming to rectify this. 

The digital inequality between rural and urban areas is set to be reduced, ensuring that all parts of the country have access to and can benefit from high-speed internet access. 

In some of these more remote regions, online access has been hindered by outdated infrastructure. In real terms, this means that residents in rural areas face difficulties when trying to perform the simplest of online tasks, for example, streaming video, taking video calls and downloading large files. Things many people in urban areas very much take for granted. 

The Government’s initiative and investment will look at targeting these affected regions to bring them faster internet access. 

We’ve already said how essential it is for communities to have access to fast broadband in today’s digital world, and these new upgrades will make sure that rural communities will gain access to faster, more reliable broadband. 

Wales Set for Large-Scale Broadband Upgrade

This project has highlighted that Wales, for the first time, has the lowest percentage of gigabit coverage in the UK. Rural regions like the South Wales Valleys, Exmoor National Park and the Forest of Bowland are set to benefit from a large-scale broadband upgrade, with significant improvements reducing the digital poverty gap with more urbanised areas.  

This will mean that millions more people will have access to affordable, fast broadband. Rural communities shouldn’t have to struggle with second-rate broadband infrastructure just because they don’t live in an urban area. They still need to access vital online services and require the digital infrastructure to do so. The good news is, the technology required to power fibre broadband, intelligent software and adapting demands by both residents and businesses is more affordable and accessible than before. 

The Government has taken a good step forward with their digital strategy and £800m pledge, but we also need the telecoms industry to take some responsibility to help reduce the digital divide. 

Thankfully, there is good motivation industry-wide for committing to the efficient deployment of networks in rural areas. 

The crux of the matter is, as a nation we need higher bandwidth to keep up with what work and education expects of us from home and in the office. This needs to be widely available across both rural and urban areas, as well as being affordable for all. 

We have high hopes that combining industry collaboration with government funding and digital strategy will provide great outcomes for rural connectivity across England, Scotland and Wales. 

Geekabit Can Help with Rural Connectivity

It’s fantastic that better, faster broadband connectivity is on the way for rural residents and businesses. But what about those of you who need a strong, reliable, fast internet connection now? 

There’s nothing more frustrating than trying to get online and constantly find that you’re dropping out or buffering. 

Our team of Wi-Fi engineers here at Geekabit have various options when it comes to rural connectivity. We’ve helped countless clients connect their remote, rural business premises to more reliable internet via Starlink satellite broadband and mobile broadband options. 

If you are interested in how our Starlink and 4G installation services could help your business, please do get in touch with our friendly team today. We cover Wales out of our Cardiff base, the South Coast of England from our Winchester base and of course London. 

4G mobile broadband or Starlink satellite internet could be just the alternative to fibre that your business needs. 

by admin
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68% of UK Premises Now Have Full Fibre Available 

Full Fibre broadband is now available for 68% of UK premises. 

Over recent years we’ve seen steady growth when it comes to the number of premises having Full Fibre broadband available to them, as you can see illustrated in the graph below. 

However, when we look at smaller increments of time, some commenters are frustrated at the length of time it is taking, willing it to be faster. The increase from 67% to 68% has taken just over a month (34 days to be precise) which is slightly longer than the usual time we would expect for a 1% increase. To put it into context, the fastest 1% increase that has been recorded is almost half of this. 

So does this mean that the speed and intensity of Full Fibre rollouts are diminishing? Are they a disaster and starting to slow down, rather than sprinting to the finish – A target of 85% coverage by 2025 and national coverage (99.9%) by 2030?

There are several complex factors that can account for the apparent slowing of Full Fibre broadband rollout. 

Factors Affecting Full Fibre UK Rollout:

  • A large influencing factor for the latest % rise taking longer than expected is the overlap between the different networks, in particular nexfibre and CityFibre rollouts.
  • Another factor to consider is that not every % increase is the same – There seems to be an ebb and flow with Openreach and their rollout where we see a couple of mediocre months in terms of volume, and then a big month. It’s expected that Openreach FTTP will be increasing in volume over the next few weeks.
  • Remember that Full Fibre broadband availability is not the same as take up. Once it is available, providers obviously want customers to take it up in those areas. This means that some providers temporarily pause their rollout in order to spend time focusing on the take up.

Which parts of the UK have the least Full Fibre availability? 

There are still many local authority areas that have low availability of FTTP (Fibre to the Premises). 

The 10 local authorities with the lowest availability can be found below. 

Local Authority% Premises FTTP Available% Increase
Na h-Eileanan an Iar6.39No change since 15/3/24
Shetland Islands5.81.35 increase since 7/6/24
Isles of Scilly9.49No change since 15/3/24
Orkney Islands11.941.11 increase since 7/6/24
Harlow District13.70.01 increase since 7/6/24
West Dunbartonshire14.740.71 increase since 7/6/24
Argyll and Bute16.950.04 increase since 7/6/24
Perth and Kinross20.311.22 increase since 7/6/24
Telford and Wrekin23.310.35 increase since 7/6/24
South Tyneside District25.272.48 increase since 7/6/24

Where in the UK has the best FTTP coverage? 

Unfortunately, there is quite a gulf between the worst areas of the UK for Full Fibre (see above table) and the best. 

The top area of the UK for FTTP coverage is Kingston upon Hull, with a whopping 99.75% of premises having access to Full Fibre availability. 77% of these properties even have the choice of two or more networks when it comes to connecting to Full Fibre broadband. 

We’re excited to see how Full Fibre broadband coverage continues to increase over the coming months and years as the UK moves towards its target of 85% coverage next year. 

We’d love to see more of the least covered local authority areas increase their FTTP availability during that time too so that even more of the UK is covered. 

by admin
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Starlink Latency – Is It Fast Enough to Hire for Events?

Network providers are constantly striving to improve performance to their service and Starlink engineering teams are no different. Starlink’s focus and goal is to deliver a service where the median latency is a stable 20ms with minimal packet loss. 

With customers and users across the globe, Starlink has managed to meaningfully reduce the median and worst-case latency over the past month. As an example, users in the US benefited from a reduction of 30% in median latency, taking it from 48.5ms to 22ms during peak times. Worst-case latency during peak times also dropped, this time by 60% from over 150ms to less than 65ms. 

Customers outside of the US have also enjoyed reduced median latency by up to 25% and worst-case latency by up to 35%. 

What is Latency?

Already we’ve talked a lot about latency – That’s what this article is about! Here’s a brief explanation of what latency actually is. 

Latency is generally measured in milliseconds, and refers to the amount of time it takes for a packet to be sent from your Starlink router to the internet and for the response to be received. This can also be referred to as RTT or “round-trip time.” 

For someone’s perceived experience of using the internet, latency is one of the most important factors. It can significantly affect things like:

  • The speed in which web pages load
  • How ‘real life’ audio and video calls feel
  • Responsiveness of online gaming

If you’re wondering actually how important latency is when it comes a user experience of using the internet, here’s an example. During testing, increasing the bandwidth beyond 10 Mbps didn’t increase the speed of which a web-page loaded, yet those that reduced latency saw much quicker load times. 

How Does Starlink Measure Latency?

Starlink’s latency is measured by collecting anonymous measurements from millions of Starlink routers. This measurement is taken every 15 seconds. The median and worst-case latencies are then calculated by taking the average of these 15 second latency measurements. 

Median Latency

The median (50th percentile or p50) refers to the point where half of the latency measurements are below that number and the other half are above. 

Worst-Case Latency

The worst-case latency, or 99th percentile, is defined as the place where 99% of measurements are better than a certain point. 

When Are These Measurements Taken?

Measurements are taken from all points in time so all data can be analysed, but Starlink do specifically look at how they are performing during peak times (between 6pm and 9pm). This is when most people are using a Starlink connection and the network is under the most load. 

What Affects Latency When Using a Starlink Connection?

There are a few factors that can affect latency in any network. For Starlink, the biggest things affecting latency are: 

  • Physical speed-of-light propagation from the user to the satellite and back to the ground.

    This goes back to the RTT (round trip time) we referred to earlier. Each part of the trip (there and then back) takes about 1.8 to 3.6 ms, with a total RTT of under 10 ms (usually).

    If traffic flows over laser links instead of directly to the ground, higher incidences of latency could occur. This would be as a result of congestion mitigation, lack of satellite to ground paths, and other factors.

    Laser connectivity is actually essential for connecting the most remote locations on Earth as well as for routing around congestion in the network. Starlink are however striving to make sure that latency sensitive traffic can flow over the shortest path possible. 
  • Ground latency from the gateway sites to the internet connection point driven by ground network layout.

    During 2024 the US will see the introduction of PoPs or Points of Presence, where Starlink has added 6 internet connect locations. They are optimising gateway locations and planning algorithms to ensure that traffic can land as close to its destination point as possible.

    Starlink continue to ensure that users are allocated to optimal internet connection locations, so that all users get the lowest latency possible route to the internet. 
  • Fronthaul (the radio links between the satellite and user) scheduling latency driven by the network topology and the number of users served by a given beam from a satellite.

    Over the past few months, Starlink’s major focus has been on optimising fronthaul scheduling latency, even though this is an inherent part of shared wireless systems. 
  • Non-physical limitations in the system.

    This would include unneeded processing delays, unoptimised buffers, or unnecessary packet drops that force retries.

    Buffers across the Starlink network have been right sized to reduce bufferbloat, and queueing algorithms have been improved to increase capacity on their gateway links from the ground to satellites. 


Starlink Wi-Fi latency has been improved, with the addition of active queue management (fq_codel) to the Starlink Wi-Fi router. What does this mean in real life? Well, with active queue management enabled, if one person on your Wi-Fi is downloading a big file, and another is playing a game, the queue management will make sure that game latency will not be affected by the download. 

How Are Starlink Striving to Reach the Goal of 20ms Latency?

Starlink has been monitoring and gaining metrics across the network to measure latency on every subsystem down to the microsecond over the past few months. They have rigorously tuned their algorithms to prefer paths with lower latency, no matter how small the difference and to remove any and all sources of unnecessary and non-physical latency. 

This is just a selection of some of the most impactful changes Starlink has made and continues to make. 

Since the beginning of the year, teams have deployed and tested 193 different satellite software builds, 75 gateway software builds, 222 Starlink software builds, and 57 Wi-Fi software builds. 

Over 2.6 million people around the world have chosen Starlink as their internet provider via satellite broadband. These customers can expect latency to continue to improve over the coming weeks and months as Starlink prioritises software changes, builds additional ground infrastructure, and launches more satellites. 

Future updates from Starlink are expected to include performance stats and more network goals as they work to improve the user experience. 

How Can I Check Starlink Latency For My Location? 

Be sure to check the latest latency statistics for your region at starlink.com/map.

Is Starlink Fast Enough to Hire for Events?

Absolutely! Here at Geekabit, we are delighted to be able to offer fast, reliable Wi-Fi via Starlink for a range of events and purposes across London and parts of the South of England. 

We’ve diligently tested what we can offer via Starlink when it comes to temporary Wi-Fi for outdoor events. Some of our test events included supporting policing events in London, hybrid meetings, rural wedding fairs and a busy city fireworks fundraising event. 

For more information on our Starlink hire service, please visit our blog. Fast Wi-Fi hire is available for events with Starlink hire from Geekabit. Feel free to contact us to find out more. 

by admin
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4G 4G Mobile Broadband Broadband Mobile Broadband Wi-Fi
4G Mobile Coverage ‘Not-Spots’ Identified by Rubbish Trucks in Mid-Wales 

A major new project has launched in Mid-Wales to identify areas with poor 4G mobile broadband coverage. The programme from Growing Mid Wales is aiming to find mobile ‘not-spots’ by installing ‘advanced data-capturing devices’ on waste collection vehicles to measure 4G mobile coverage and network capacity as they move through Powys and Ceredigion. 

This idea to map mobile coverage across the region using waste refuse trucks is highly cost-effective, negating the need for logistical costs and hiring of specialist teams and vehicles to achieve the same outcome. The waste collection vehicles go about their regular routes, all the while collecting 4G mobile coverage data. 

Growing Mid Wales is part of the Mid Wales Growth Digital Programme. This is a long term investment from the Mid Wales Growth Deal with a combined commitment of £110 million from the UK and Welsh Governments. 

4G Mobile Data Collected from 4 Major Networks

Specially equipped waste collection vehicles will collect 4G mobile broadband data from the 4 major Mobile Network Operators in Wales and the rest of the UK – EE, O2, Three UK and Vodafone. 

The data collected will then be used by Grow Mid Wales to develop projects and interventions to specifically target key areas where connectivity is more of a challenge. This in turn will help enhance digital infrastructure across the mid-Wales regions. 

Free 4G Coverage Checker

Funded by the UK’s Shared Prosperity Fund from the UK Government and supported by the local authorities in Powys and Ceredigion, this project will also produce a coverage checker tool. 

Growing Mid Wales is set to launch this free tool later this summer, which will enable people in the Mid Wales area to check mobile coverage and subsequently identify the best mobile provider for their needs. This will provide digital transparency to those in areas where connectivity is more of a challenge. 

What do Growing Mid Wales have to say about the project?

“We are thrilled to launch this groundbreaking project in Mid Wales. Identifying and addressing ‘mobile not-spots’ and areas of poor network capacity is crucial for the region’s development.

This initiative aligns with GMW’s overarching goals, supporting decision-making for digital infrastructure deployments, regional economic development, and innovation. Having better information about coverage will increase our ability to work with commercial providers to address genuine not-spots and problem areas in coverage. In turn, this will help us pinpoint the areas where public intervention may be required to accelerate and/or enable deployment to ensure we have safe, reliable coverage across the region.”

Whilst rubbish trucks should visit the majority of locations in these areas, they can’t reach every single location. As with all projects like this, there are some limits, however it’s an interesting and intuitive idea and should produce some useful results when it comes to identifying those areas that are struggling with 4G connectivity. 

Ingenuitive 4G coverage mapping

Here at Geekabit, it’s no surprise that we’re excited to see how this project turns out and what takeaways it can have for other rural and remote areas in the UK. 

Will we start to see other similar projects popping up in other parts of the UK to map 4G coverage in hard to reach areas? We shall see! 

by admin
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Access Points AP Aruba Hardware Wi-Fi
Ruckus vs Aruba Wi-Fi

Which AP is best for your network – Ruckus or Aruba? 

With a wireless market saturated by Access Points and other Wi-Fi hardware, we don’t blame you for wondering which one would be best matched to your network. 

Generally, going for quality is a good place to start if you want your network to function well. There are of course many quality brands manufacturing Access Points, but for the purpose of this article we’re going to take a look at Ruckus and Aruba. Both of these brands have advantages and disadvantages – It’s just a case of comparing these characteristics with your network requirements and determining which would be the best match 

What are the main functions of and differences between Ruckus and Aruba?

Ruckus

Let’s start with Ruckus. Ruckus is developed for high density indoor environments, with Access Points that offer dual band Wi-Fi (meaning they can support both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands). Ruckus AP’s also have MU-MIMO (multiple user MIMO) capability, meaning they can transmit data to multiple devices simultaneously.

Network Management Options

Ruckus network environments can be managed by on-site or remote controllers for hardware, cloud, virtual, clustered or standalone. 

Network Security

Ruckus AP’s have Dynamic PSK™ Encryption KEy tEchnology. Dynamic pre-Shared Key (pSK) is a patented technology developed to provide robust and secure wireless access while eliminating the arduous task of manual configuration of end devices and the tedious management of encryption keys. You can read more about this on the Ruckus Networks data sheet here. 

Ruckus AP’s also support BYOD technology which is now prevalent across business networks (Bring Your Own Device – when employees use their own personal devices to connect to the organisation’s network and access what they need to do their jobs). 

Network Performance

Ruckus’ patent-pending SmartCast technology combines innovative multicast traffic handling techniques, smart QoS, and application-aware traffic classification capabilities, for top-quality Wi-Fi video transmissions for things like surveillance.

Ruckus also utilises BeamFlex, a combination of multiple high-gain polarized antenna elements and patented software algorithms that are combined in real time to offer an exponential increase in performance. 

Aruba

Aruba is developed for high density environments, with Access Points that offer dual band Wi-Fi (meaning they can support both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands like Ruckus). Aruba AP’s also have MU-MIMO (multiple user MIMO) capability, meaning they can also transmit data to multiple devices simultaneously.

Network Management Options

Aruba network environments can be managed via Cloud, Local or on-premises. 

Network Security

Aruba has the standard network security functions that can be expected for Wi-Fi hardware, such as VPN, Firewall, Unlimited intrusion prevention etc. 

Network Performance

Aruba uses Beam forming technology, With beamforming, the access point knows where a Wi-Fi device is located and sends the Wi-Fi signal specifically in that direction. The function thus provides fast, strong Wi-Fi signals and great coverage for each device.

Ruckus vs. Aruba – Let’s Compare

So now we know the general functions of both Ruckus and Aruba AP’s, let’s specifically look at how they compare to each other. 

Ruckus vs Aruba – Network Performance

Winner: Ruckus

In terms of Access Points, Ruckus Access Points have better optimal performance and higher network efficiency than that of Aruba. 

The reason for this lies in the AP’s Radio Frequency Technology. As mentioned above, Ruckus AP’s use BeamFlex technology. Standard Beamforming in 802.11ac (like what Aruba uses) is a radio based technology. BeamFlex is an antenna based technology that engages adaptive antennas. The difference between the two is that Ruckus uses beamforming (which is radio based) and combines it with adaptive antennas (BeamFlex which is antenna based) which therefore maximises the performance of the AP. 

Performance is optimised by increasing radio capacity and reducing co-channel interference which leads to the enjoyment of a seamless network. Not only that, but Ruckus can transmit IPTV (internet protocol television) for your multimedia applications. 

Ordinarily, Ruckus performs client load balancing, and it is equipped with airtime fairness to promote Wi-Fi to your slow device. In addition, it also has smart support for apps and frequency band control, allowing your dual-band device to connect to the 5 GHz frequency band to improve network efficiency. 

In comparison, Aruba uses traditional beamforming technology. This enables the AP to concentrate the signal on your device, which also provides a stable network.  

Ruckus vs Aruba – Network Security

Winner: Aruba

When it comes to a more secure network, Aruba has the edge over Ruckus.  

Aruba’s security protocol has been standardised through 802.11 I (IEEE 802.11i-2004, or 802.11i for short, is an amendment to the original IEEE 802.11, implemented as Wi-Fi Protected Access II (WPA2). It also provides a strong firewall in the Aruba mobile controller. 

Ruckus also has its good points when it comes to network security. Ruckus offers BYOD technology and DPSK patented technology (as explained above), which work together to ensure that your network has a subtle level of security.

Ruckus vs Aruba – Overall

Ruckus’ innovative and personalised antenna ray is used to extend the signal range and increase client data for  wireless video, voice and data technology. This eliminates Wi-Fi interference and ensure a reliable and strong Wi-Fi network for your smart Wi-Fi devices. 

You can find Ruckus AP’s on their website here. 

All of Aruba access points use AI-driven radio frequency optimization, intelligent management, dynamic segmentation, and intelligent operation of a wealth of users and applications. In addition, they have been optimised to support IoT devices running Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee and other third-party protocols.

You can find Aruba’s AC’s on their website here. 

So which is best for your network – Ruckus or Aruba? 

As we’ve outlined in this article, you can find unique features in both Ruckus and Aruba hardware that help to optimise performance. 

Both Ruckus and Aruba have unique features used for optimal performance. Overall, it would seem however that Ruckus can provide you with a more stable and faster network than Aruba. Ruckus maintains performance in high-density environments and offers patented technology to increase network performance.

Don’t forget that it comes down to your own network requirements as to which one you should go for. If you’re not sure, then reach out to the experts! 

Geekabit Wi-Fi Experts

Our expert Wi-Fi engineers are on hand to survey, design and deploy a Wi-Fi network to meet your business needs. 

Get in touch with our friendly team today here. 

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Antenna Antennas Beamforming Broadband Rural Broadband Satellite Broadband Satellite Internet SpaceX Starlink Wi-Fi
Is Starlink Business Worth It?

Having provided Starlink satellite broadband for a variety of different customers and clients – From large scale charity events to rural businesses and remote residential properties – We’ve seen first hand how Starlink internet is a game changer for people who aren’t able to get a reliable connection from mobile Wi-Fi or fibre broadband. 

Business Starlink vs. Residential Starlink

Did you know that Starlink offers both a Residential and Business internet service? If you’re wondering how they differ from one another and whether it’s worth going for the Business service, then you’re in the right place! 

Is Bigger Better? Let’s Talk Differences in Dish Size

The dish used for Starlink Business internet services is physically bigger than the Residential package dish. There are big benefits of using the Starlink Business antenna with more elements for better performance:

  • More powerful signals can be sent and received 
  • They perform better in all weather conditions and are more durable
  • Improved performance through better quality connections and lower latency
  • When more satellites are in the sky,  they offer a higher bandwidth

In terms of numbers, the business antenna offers a 140 degrees view, compared to the 110 degrees from the Residential antenna. This increases the service availability by 4 times compared to before. 

GPS functionality is also enhanced as well as improving the visibility of the satellite by about 35%. 

Starlink uses a beam-forming technique for their high-performance dishes, which creates a cone of connectivity to satellites. During satellite transitions, there can be ‘mini outages’ but with the bigger dishes these occur less and are less disruptive due to the upgraded business antenna elements offering faster processing. 

Starlink Business dishes are highly durable with IP56 protection, meaning they can withstand strong jets of water. This is in comparison to the Residential antennas which have IP54 protection which protects them against just splashes. 

What does this mean in real terms? Basically, Starlink Business dishes perform better in extreme weather. Not only does the upgraded heat management system mean that it can offer speeds 3 times faster when temperatures exceed 35 degrees, but the Starlink Business antenna also melts snow 1.7 times faster. 

Get Priority Bandwidth with Starlink Business 

Many home users can get everything they need from a Starlink Residential package, but if you need power then Starlink Business could be the better choice. One big plus of Starlink Business is that you are given higher priority traffic than those on Residential plans. 

We mentioned earlier that the higher performing dish on the Starlink Business service has 35% more visibility – Basically the ability to view 35% more of the sky. This means it can connect to more satellites and maintain those connections better. 

What speeds can you get on Starlink Business compared to Residential?

Starlink Business:

Download speeds – 100-350mbps

Upload speeds – 10-50 mbps

Lower latency

Starlink Residential:

Download – Up to 100 mbps 

Starlink Connectivity for Extreme Environments

If your business needs hardware to keep you connected in extreme weather environments (e.g. high humidity, high/low temperatures, heavy snowfall) then the high performance Starlink Business dish is unlikely to let you down. 

For businesses, having 24/7 bandwidth to support business operations is imperative. The service from Starlink Business can offer more stability, faster connections and fewer dropouts. 

Connectivity via Venn and Starlink

The great thing about Starlink Business is that it can benefit organisations big or small. Through a high performance dish, upgrading to Starlink Business could bring your organisation:

  • A better quality connection
  • Lower latency
  • Improved performance 

Starlink hardware can be combined for organisations who need to cover large, critical sites for multiple and many users needing high availability. 

Venn Telecom has partnered with Starlink, enabling the connection of multiple high-performance Starlink antennas and simultaneous connections to various 5G networks. This enhances reliability and speed even further. 

Starlink Satellite Broadband with Geekabit

If you’re considering Starlink satellite broadband as an alternative way to connect to the internet – For a business or event – Then get in touch with our Wi-Fi expert today. We’ve seen the difference Starlink can make for those in remote or rural areas. 

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Aruba Business Wi-Fi Wi-Fi WLAN
Could Your Work-From-Anywhere Team Benefit from Aruba Wireless Hardware?

When it comes to wireless products, you’ll find it hard to beat Aruba with their comprehensive portfolio. But what is it about Aruba that’s ranking higher than even the likes of CISCO and other reputable wireless manufacturers on the market? With its advanced capabilities and ease of use, Aruba is dominating the wireless industry.

If you’re in charge of IT infrastructure for your organisation then we’d be surprised if you weren’t considering Aruba for your connectivity solutions. 

It’s a wireless world

We live in a wireless world. It doesn’t matter how small or large your business is or what industry sector you’re a part of – healthcare, financial, commercial – Nowadays we’re not restricted by physical boundaries in many jobs. As an organisation, it’s highly likely you need to provide your employees with the ability to access your network from any given device at any time. All whilst making sure your network is secure, that data is kept private and transfer speeds are quick. That’s no small order! But that’s the way business runs in this wireless world – Everyone expects wireless access anywhere and everywhere they go. 

Aruba offers an innovative wireless solution

The tech industry is synonymous with fast paced developments – People are always looking for the next best thing. Quicker, smaller, more powerful. But actually when it comes to networking, there’s been relatively little movement when it comes to innovation and technological advancements.

Enter Aruba and their wireless solution. Packed with innovation, with ways of handling:

  • Volumes
  • Reliability
  • Security
  • Scalability
  • Ease of management

Not only that, but it’s also backed up with expert support. We know what you’re thinking – That sounds like an IT team’s dream! 

How does Aruba compare with CISCO?

We mentioned CISCO briefly earlier and how industry experts are ranking elements of Aruba’s wireless offering higher than that of CISCO. 

Recent reviews via PeerSpot have rated Aruba as 4.0 out of 5 which is one of the highest in its field. This could be due to the fact it offers users a simple interface that they can easily interact with, not to mention their laser focus on wireless technology in general. 

Reviews overall seem to be showing that Aruba offers the same capabilities as CISCO, but at a lower cost. 

These wireless rivals are often pitted against one another as their solutions have very similar capabilities. 

Both Aruba and CISCO offer:

  • Solutions with user friendly set-up and configuration
  • 24/7 customer support options
  • Similar price points (with Aruba being slightly less expensive)

The main differences between the two come down to specific features and backend visibility for alert management. 

You may think that CISCO would have the edge as a well-known, reputable brand, but Aruba seems to rapidly be catching up in popularity. Their focus on wireless features that they’re bringing to the market is going down well with customers. 

Aruba customers believe they offer the best, most cost-effective wireless solution on the market. In addition to that, notable features seem to be:

  • A platform that provides the foundation for multiple levels of security 
  • Secure access for guests and IoT devices
  • Wayfinding
  • Location-based notifications
  • App consolidation
  • Asset tracking

Why is Aruba wireless rapidly growing in popularity? 

Let’s look at some in-depth reasons why Aruba is proving a popular choice among wireless customers. 

Aruba Puts Customers First

Aruba’s vice president of Portfolio Marketing, Lissa Hollinger says, “One of Aruba’s guiding principles is ‘customer first, customer last’.” 

Aruba are heavily customer centred when it comes to their ethos and approach to business. The root of product development focuses on solving the problems of their customers. They also offer lifetime warranty on some of their many products, as well as free on-call support. 

They even have an interactive, peer to peer community of Aruba users called Airheads Social, dedicated to sharing information and promoting technical discussions.

Aruba has Integrated Security with 360 Secure Fabric

IT networks are full of end users who constantly pop in and out on varying devices (not to mention IoT and cloud options). Unfortunately a mere firewall isn’t sufficient for protecting the perimeter on today’s network environments. This means a radical shift when it comes to network security. The key is integration. Aruba’s 360 Secure Fabric protects across all points in any environment – A real game changer.  

What are the components of Aruba’s 360 Secure Fabric?:

Aruba IntroSpect User and Entity Behavioral Analysis (UEBA) 

  • Provides visibility, monitoring, and attack detection. 
  • Automates threat detection and analysis by providing a consolidated view of security activities in a list format, prioritised using a 0 to 100 risk score. 
  • This type of insight allows IT leaders to review information and make decisions quickly, without using time and resources to collect activity information and evaluate its potential risk.

Aruba ClearPass 

  • Handles authentication through its network access control (NAC) and policy management solution
  • Syncs up with UEBA to automate threat responses
  • Aruba ClearPass is key to the Bring-Your-Own-Device culture many businesses operate within today by simplifying the creation of a safe connection to personal devices with customised access control to identify, enforce, and protect access privileges, regardless of the user’s location

Security is at the forefront of Aruba’s wireless design with IntroSpect and ClearPass working together.

Guest Access Control is Strong and Scalable with Aruba 

One of the top requirements of wireless infrastructure is guest access – Think customers and contractors. Organisations can combine enterprise-grade security and automated registration with Aruba ClearPass Guest, giving visitors secure access to your wired and wireless networks. 

ClearPass also detects anomalies and, if possible, deals with them automatically whilst creating alerts and making you aware of any breaches. 

This allows you to expand your user experience, without the risk of a multi-month breach to go undetected. 

Security Across Devices

There are currently over 15 billion IoT devices. Any connected devices have the potential to become an entry point for a breach. This is when ClearPass becomes integral to IoT devices, providing maximum protection through 4 categories of defence:

  • Visibility is created with orchestrated discovery
  • Access privileges must conform to context-based rules
  • Enforcement is enterprise-wide across wired, Wi-Fi, and VPN
  • Automated end-to-end workflows ensure situationally-aware security

AP’s and Remote Access Points (RAPs) from Aruba 

For small and medium sized businesses, Aruba Access Points expand Wi-Fi coverage and enable enterprise level networking at a manageable cost. 

The user experience is enhanced through Aruba Instant On Access Points by strengthening Wi-Fi coverage and increasing the number of devices a network can support at once. 

Aruba’s Remote Access Points (RAPs) take this a step further and allow your work-from-anywhere team to continue to work without issue. Employees can connect to your secure wireless network, regardless of their location or device with Aruba RAPs. The prevalence of remote working might have sharply increased over Covid, but having proved that many employees can indeed get the work done from almost anywhere, it’s extremely useful to be able to give verified users appropriate access and a reliable connection no matter where they are working from. 

Aruba Airwave Provides Integrated Network Management 

Multi vendor environments can benefit from integrated IT operations management tools through Aruba Airwave.  You can mange wired and wireless networks with its unified network management, with step-by-step workflows and streamlined automation capabilities. It also provides granular visibility into devices, users, and applications on the network. Aruba Airwave offers real-time monitoring and control, with detailed health and analytics dashboards.

Edge Services Platform from Aruba Gives Scalability and Security 

Aruba Edge Services Platform (ESP):

  • Identifies issues at network edges
  • Uses AI to resolve many issues before they become problems 
  • Introduces next-level networking, letting internal teams focus their attention elsewhere while enhancing network security
  • Secures the network edge to provide a highly scalable cloud-native platform

End User Satisfaction with Wayfinding and Asset Tracking

There is some serious scope for what these capabilities could offer your business. 

Aruba wayfinding includes the foundation to build location-based services on top of the network infrastructure. Aruba Meridian is a cloud-based, software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution featuring wayfinding, proximity-based notifications, and digital asset tracking, giving you the ability to evolve the service you offer. 

Picture the likes of university campuses, stadiums, airports, warehouses, retail etc – All sorts of new services could be customised for these places with this flexible platform’s tools. 

The ability to track assets (for example, shipments) can save your business both time and money as well as increasing productivity. 

How could these capabilities benefit your business?

Accommodate Any Need with Breadth and Functionality

Aruba Networks, now known as HPE Aruba Networking, is a subsidiary of Hewlett-Packard Enterprise. This means you don’t just get the security and networking range of products and IT solutions, but also other products for which HPE is known, including WLAN, routers and switches. These are often high-quality and lower priced. 

You’ll likely find a complete, end-to-end package to fit your business needs – Who doesn’t love a one-stop-shop?

Could Aruba Wireless Hardware Benefit Your Business?

This list is not exhaustive – There are many other reasons why Aruba is leading in the wireless industry. If you’re intrigued by what Aruba offers and want to see how your business could benefit from the capabilities offered, then get in touch with our Wi-Fi experts today. Our professional wireless engineers can help ascertain how Aruba can help you meet your wireless connectivity goals. Give us a call or drop us an email and let’s get started. 

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Broadband Rural Broadband Satellite Broadband Satellite Internet SpaceX Starlink Wi-Fi
SpaceX Starlink Set to Expand UK Broadband Capacity 

SpaceX is trying to increase the capacity of its ultrafast broadband via LEO (Low Earth Orbit) constellation of satellites by seeking approval from Ofcom to get a variation on its existing gateway. They plan to do this by increasing the number of gateway antennas at multipe UK sites and by adopting additional bands. 

Starlink LEO Satellites

At the moment, Starlink have a network of 5,289 LEO satellites. They orbit the Earth at an altitude of around 500km. 

SpaceX Starlink has approval to expand this number to approximately 7,500 satellites by the end of 2027. 

What is the Cost of Starlink Satellite Broadband? 

For UK customers, costs start at £75 per month. There is an additional cost for the £449 regular home kit which includes a standard dish, router and relevant kit. There is also a shipping fee of £20 on the Standard package. 

By the end of last year, Starlink had a global network of 2.3 million customers (now at 2.6m). 42,000 of those customers were based in the UK (which is up from 13,000 in 2022). Most of these UK customers are based in rural areas. 

Starlink Broadband Speed

The Standard Starlink broadband package promises download speeds of between 25 and 100 Mbps and upload speeds of 5-10 Mbps. It also offers latency times of 25-50 ms. 

What licenses do SpaceX currently hold for Starlink Satellite Broadband?

SpaceX Starlink currently holds multiple NGSO (Non-Geostationary Earth Station) gateway licenses to operate the network. These NGSO gateway licenses help to connect their NGSO system to the internet via large dishes on the ground. 

SpaceX is asking to update 4 of these in order to help boost capacity and meet the growing demand for its broadband services. This follows their recent upgrade to their latest Gen 2 satellites. 

In specific terms, SpaceX want Ofcom to give them permission to increase the number of antennas at 4 of their 7 sites:

  • Fawley
  • Isle of Man
  • Wherstead
  • Woodwalton

Currently, these 4 gateway sites are allowed to operate up to a 9 Ka-band parabolic antennas. These are used to operate their service to UK customers and those in adjacent countries. 

The request for approval to Ofcom from SpaceX includes:

  • An extra 24 antennas at Fawley, Wherestead and Woodwalton. This would bring the total to 32 antennas for these sites. 
  • These new antennas are planned to operate in bands 27.5-28.0525 GHz, 28.4445-29.0605 GHz, 29.4525-30GHz.
  • An extra 32 antennas at the site on the Isle of Man. This would bring the total to 40 for this site. SpaceX already have access to the frequencies they want to operate at for this site (27.5-30GHz).

The regulator’s consultation is open for responses until the 31st May 2024. They state that their initial assessment is that the requested variation from SpaceX should not:

  • Affect other licensed NGSO services
  • Future NGSO services
  • GSO services
  • Fixed links operating in the same user frequencies

Over in the US, SpaceX Starlink already have authorisation from the FCC for their Gen 1 constellation for 4,408 satellites and their Gen 2 constellation for 7,500. 

What are Starlink’s competitors upto?

Inmarsat (Viasat), another satellite operator, has also applied for an NGSO Earth Station Network License for its new GX-10 non-geostationary orbiting satellite system. 

Inmarsat also plan to extend the coverage of their existing Global Xpress satellite system over the polar region. This will provide communication services to government, defence, aero and maritime commercial customers. 

Whilst their primary focus for their service area is latitudes above 65N, their satellites will also provide intermittent service over parts of the UK. 

Their service will use the Ka-band frequencies 19.7 – 20.2GHz and 29.5 – 30GHz, and whilst Ofcom are consulting on this until the 31st May, they have provisionally approved the request. 

Starlink Satellite Broadband Hire for Events from Geekabit

Did you know about Geekabit’s new service? We can provide your event – Indoor or outdoor – with Starlink satellite broadband hire, even in rural areas. 

If your event is being held in London, Hampshire, Sussex, Dorset or Wiltshire and you’re interested in reliable event internet then get in touch with our Wi-Fi experts today. 

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