WiFi Rail Completes Installation of Multi-Terrain Demonstration Wireless Network

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SAN FRANCISCO, California (January 31, 2008) - WiFi Rail has completed the installation and successful testing of a multi-terrain demonstration of their proprietary wireless network. The demonstration network encompasses four underground stations in San Francisco, interconnecting tubes, and above ground for 2.6 miles at the BART Hayward test track.

“The design and engineering allow for WiFi Rail networks to provide high-speed mobile WiFi access throughout mass transit environments,” stated Cooper Lee, Founder and CEO of WiFi Rail, Inc. “These environments include commuter and intercity rail systems, bus and ferry routes, freeways, and others.”

The installation includes a combination of 802.11g access points, single-mode fiber, solar power systems, in-train equipment, and proprietary software systems to control authentication and access. Single-mode fiber connects access points to a collapsed backbone allowing all radios to be connected with equal bandwidth and latency to the same physical network.

WiFi coverage in the underground tubes is delivered via a combination of Cisco radios, amplifiers, and filters powering a radiating coaxial cable traversing the length of the tubes. Aboveground redundant “line-of-sight” coverage is achieved by locating purpose designed WiFi Rail poles as often as needed along the track. The poles, which power the above ground network, have been engineered and equipped with parabolic dishes, solar systems, and fiber-optic transceivers, to provide the necessary redundant overlapping RF coverage and access to the fiber-optic backbone. WiFi Rail trackside infrastructure supports today’s high capacity RF technology and provides for easy evolution with future RF standards.

The San Francisco underground portion of the network; Embarcadero, Montgomery, Powell, and Civic Center stations, has been under live test by BART patrons since early summer, 2007, with over 6400 users registering and accessing the Internet at speeds averaging more than 15 Mbps.

Tests on moving trains - at over 65mph - have demonstrated upload/download speeds over 15 Mbps. Testing has included streaming live video from onboard train cameras while simultaneously watching five Internet video feeds, video conferencing, VoIP phone calls, and downloading multi-meg files. Test train equipment has demonstrated seamless roaming throughout the system and verified contiguous network coverage without service degradation nor lapse of connectivity.

WiFi Rail has filed four patent applications (in the US, Internationally, and Taiwan) to protect the design, implementation, and specialized technologies required to deliver a WiFi Rail network.

Implementation of the WiFi Rail demonstration network is in conjunction with the approval and a permit from the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) for a Beta Test network.

WiFi Rail is a high-speed broadband wireless provider with specific focus on commuter transportation for mass transit systems. The company, founded in 2005, has created real-time wireless access to meet the needs of the exploding demands of travelers carrying a laptop, PDA, iPod or other wireless device, and desiring to utilize the services of on-line connections.

Contact : Patrick Harrington, 415 902 0057 : patrick@wifirail.net