NRG Stadium hit 4.11 TB on Wi-Fi for Texans-Raiders playoff game

January 30, 2017 by Paul Kapustka

NRG Stadium. Credit: Houston Texans Instagram

In what became the last live tune-up before the Super Bowl, NRG Stadium in Houston saw fans use 4.11 terabytes of data on the venue’s new Wi-Fi network during Houston’s 27-14 playoff victory over Oakland on Jan. 7, according to the Texans.

Jeff Schmitz, vice president of information technology for the Texans, said that NRG Stadium also saw approximately 35,000 unique users on the network at the playoff game, a 48 percent take rate against the total attendance of 71,790. The peak concurrent user number for the game was almost 24,000 users, with all numbers setting season highs for the network that debuted at the NFL season start, according to Schmitz.

“The playoff game was definitely the biggest” network-traffic day for the Texans, said Schmitz in a phone interview. During the talk Schmitz clarified that the network went through a serious up-and-down stretch during the middle of the season, due to under-seat Wi-Fi AP enclosures that didn’t completely seal out moisture.

Under seat APs visible down seating row. Credit: 5 Bars

While MSR had previously reported on the issue, Schmitz clarified that the full replacement of the APs took place in late October, meaning that the network staff had to basically re-tune and adjust the network in the later months of the season.

But the 4.11 TB mark and the large number of connected users for the playoff game was a sign that the network was in fine shape for Sunday’s Super Bowl LI, where if history offers any guidance there might be another new record set for single-day Wi-Fi usage.

The number to beat is the 10.1 TB mark from Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium last February, part of a 26 TB wireless day (with 15.9 TB recorded on cellular and DAS networks).

Wi-Fi coaches staying for Super Bowl

Schmitz also said that the Extreme Networks “Wi-Fi coaches” would be on hand for Super Sunday, helping fans figure out how to connect to the Extreme-based network and its 1,250 APs.

“We thought we’d only keep the coaches (who roam the stadium helping fans with network issues) for half a season, but with the switch [in APs] we ended up having them there for every game,” Schmitz said.

Wi-Fi gear visible above concourse kiosk. Credit: 5 Bars

Having the Wi-Fi coaches at the Super Bowl also makes sense since many fans at that game will likely be visiting NRG Stadium for the first time, as opposed to Texans season ticket holders.

Though NRG Stadium won’t have to contend with temporary structures like those built on the concourses at Levi’s Stadium last year, Schmitz said there is some extra network work ahead to make sure the auxiliary press box area has “beefed up” Wi-Fi as well as wired connections for media use.

Another thing missing from last year’s Super Bowl is the ability for fans in any seat to order beverage delivery via the game-day app. Though details of services for the Super Bowl app have yet to be fully announced, Schmitz said the only in-seat delivery would be for premium club-level seats, which in addition to app-based ordering will have live humans who can take orders from fans for in-seat delivery, something Texans fans have available during regular-season games.

“That service [fans ordering from servers] gets used the most,” Schmitz said.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Apps, DAS, Extreme Networks, Levi's Stadium, NFL, Super Bowl, Verizon Wireless, Wi-Fi, Xfinity Tagged With: 4G LTE, DAS, Extreme Networks, Houston Texans, Levi's Stadium, Mobile Sports Report, NFL, NRG Stadium, Paul Kapustka, Stadium Wi-Fi, Super Bowl, Super Bowl 50, Super Bowl 51, Super Bowl LI, Super Bowl Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi

Indiana Pacers upgrade Wi-Fi at Bankers Life Fieldhouse

January 26, 2017 by Paul Kapustka

Bankers Life Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers. Credit all photos: Frank McGrath/Indiana Pacers

Whenever you undertake a Wi-Fi retrofit project, one thing is for certain: You can always expect surprises along the way.

For the Indiana Pacers, the biggest surprise in their recent renovation of the Wi-Fi network at Bankers Life Fieldhouse was finding out that their venue already had holes drilled in the concrete under the seats, greatly simplifying (and reducing the cost) of the mainly under-seat deployment that just went live in December.

The new 400-plus AP network, using gear from Ruckus, replaces one of the NBA’s first in-stadium Wi-Fi networks, one built and run by SignalShare using gear from Xirrus. With SignalShare now in bankruptcy and facing legal charges of fraudulent behavior, the Pacers went a different route for their new network, which is part of a plan to bring more digital-based fan services to the 17-year-old venue in downtown Indianapolis, which seats roughly 18,000 for basketball games.

According to Kevin Naylor, vice president of information technology, Pacers Sports and Entertainment, that plan got an unexpected (and welcome) boost when the Pacers’ IT team looked and found pre-drilled holes underneath many of the seats, covered up with temporary aluminum plates. With Ruckus able to use the pre-drilled holes for its under-seat Wi-Fi design, the Pacers were able to save “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in deployment costs, Naylor said.

A new digital plan for fans

Editor’s note: This profile is from our latest STADIUM TECH REPORT, the ONLY in-depth publication created specifically for the stadium technology professional and the stadium technology marketplace. Read about the Sacramento Kings’ new Golden 1 Center and the new Wi-Fi network for the Super Bowl in our report, which is available now for FREE DOWNLOAD from our site!

Leading the venue’s new digital direction is Ed Frederici, chief technology officer, Pacers Sports and Entertainment, who joined the organization in the fall of 2015, after spending almost 6 years as the CTO of ExactTarget, a marketing automation provider that was aquired by Salesforce in 2013.

Though he came into the job “relatively ignorant of sports,” Frederici said he saw “a really interesting problem to solve” revolving around the ongoing evolution of the live-event fan, and who the new attendee was. With a plan to help drive the fan engagement through technology, Frederici, Naylor and the Pacers’ organization began a thorough assessment of Wi-Fi gear providers as part of their plan to bring a new network to Bankers Life Fieldhouse, replacing one that didn’t stand up to current use patterns.

“The old network tapped out when it got to about 3,000 [concurrent] users,” Frederici said.

Pacers director of IT Kevin Naylor shows off a new under-seat Wi-Fi AP

According to Frederici, the Pacers looked at “all the major providers” of Wi-Fi gear, testing implementations live by putting gear into mobile merchandise-selling stands in use on the stadium concourses. The final decision, Frederici said, came down to a battle between Ruckus and Xirrus, with Ruckus the final winner.

Under seat the best option

According to Bart Giordano, vice president for business development and strategic partnerships, for Brocade’s Ruckus business unit, going under-seat with Wi-Fi seems to be the direction large public venues are all headed in.

“It [under seat deployment] is sort of standard now,” said Giordano. “You really need to have users close to the APs, and it’s hard to achieve that with overhead.”

With just over 430 APs in the new network, Frederici was worrying about the drilling costs — until it turned out that most of the drilling had already been done, apparently as part of the arena’s original electrical configuration.

“Seventeen years ago, cables were much thinner, and it looks like [the holes] were cored for electrical,” Frederici said. “But it worked out fabulously.”

And like several other venues have done recently, the Pacers have decided to scrap support for fan-facing services on the 2.4 GHz spectrum, which makes administration of the fan Wi-Fi network easier and cheaper. The team will still keep some 2.4 GHz connections for back of house use.

With 2.4 GHz, Naylor said, “the noise level just got really bad in the lower bowl. It’s much easier to go to [only] 5 GHz. Every phone made now has 5 GHz.” For the older phones, Naylor said, the arena’s neutral-host DAS run by ExteNet Systems can provide connectivity, with AT&T and Verizon Wireless already on the system with plans to add more carriers in 2017.

While the Pacers currently have a basic YinzCam-based game-day app, Frederici is looking forward to more services in the future, including the possibility of having amenities like live parking and traffic information available via the app, as well as blue-dot wayfinding to the seat. For this year, the Pacers have already added concession and restroom wait time alerts to the app, the first step in a planned process of greater digital engagement.

“We want to own the experience from your driveway to the stadium, then back home,” Frederici said. Part of the new network deal includes analytics software services from Ruckus partner Purple, which helps teams mine data from fan interaction with the Wi-Fi network.

“We’re excited to see what kind of data we can pull from them [Purple],” Naylor said.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, Basketball, DAS, NBA, Verizon Wireless, Wi-Fi, YinzCam Tagged With: 4G LTE, AT&T, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, DAS, Indiana Pacers, Kevin Naylor, Mobile Sports Report, NBA, Paul Kapustka, Ruckus, Stadium Wi-Fi, under seat Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi, YinzCam

Patriots’ new Wi-Fi network delivers during playoffs; AFC Champ game hits 5.11 TB mark

January 23, 2017 by Paul Kapustka

Gillette Stadium before the Sept. 11 game vs. the Miami Dolphins. Credit: Steve Milne, AP, via Patriots.com

The new Wi-Fi network installed at the New England Patriots’ Gillette Stadium this season got a good workout during the postseason, with more than half the fans present logging on during the Patriots’ two playoff home games. According to the team, the network saw 5.11 terabytes of data used during Sunday’s game, one of the top Wi-Fi marks we’ve ever reported.

Sunday’s 36-17 New England victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship game saw the biggest Wi-Fi traffic numbers, with 38,436 unique users connecting to the network at some point during game day — a 57 percent take rate based on the reported sellout crowd attendance number of 66,829. Original stats provided by Fred Kirsch, publisher & vice president of content at Kraft Sports Productions (and overseer of all things technology at the stadium) showed a total tonnage of 3.70 terabytes for Wi-Fi traffic Sunday, with a peak concurrent client number of 30,824 and a peak throughput total of 3.14 Gbps.

That total was reset to 5.11 TB when Kirsch said additional traffic from “postgame activities” (likely the trophy presentations) was added in. The 5.11 TB mark puts Sunday’s game into the MSR unofficial “Top 5” list of single-day Wi-Fi traffic marks, supplanting the first College Football Playoff championship game, which saw 4.93 TB of Wi-Fi used at AT&T Stadium on Jan. 12, 2015. (We are still waiting for Wi-Fi figures from this year’s CFP champs game, so our list may change again soon!)

The Extreme Networks-based network saw almost a similar stress during the Pats’ 34-16 victory over the Houston Texans on Jan. 14, according to figures from Kirsch. Even though cold, rainy conditions persisted at both games, for the Texans game the Gillette network saw 2.97 TB of total traffic, with 35,536 unique connections — a 53 percent take rate. Peak concurrent connections on Jan. 14 were 28,620, while peak bandwidth use was 2.76 Gbps.

THE NEW TOP 5 FOR WI-FI

1. Super Bowl 50, Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, Calif., Feb. 7, 2016: Wi-Fi: 10.1 TB
2. WrestleMania 32, AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas, April 3, 2016: Wi-Fi: 6.77 TB
3. Super Bowl XLIX, University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz., Feb. 1, 2015: Wi-Fi: 6.23 TB
4. Alabama vs. Texas A&M, Kyle Field, College Station, Texas, Oct. 17, 2015: Wi-Fi: 5.7 TB
5. Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New England Patriots, AFC Championship Game, Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass., Jan. 22, 2017: Wi-Fi: 5.11 TB

Filed Under: Extreme Networks, NFL, Wi-Fi Tagged With: Extreme Networks, Gillette Stadium, Mobile Sports Report, New England Patriots, NFL, Paul Kapustka, Stadium Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi

Avaya files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

January 19, 2017 by Paul Kapustka

Networking company Avaya, which has made an aggressive move over the past couple years into the sports stadium networking space, including purchasing naming rights and technology contracts to the San Jose Earthquakes soccer stadium, has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to the company website.

No word yet on how the “restructuring” will affect any of Avaya’s stadium tech deals, which include Wi-Fi networks at the Pepsi Center in Denver, and at the Montreal Canadiens’ Bell Centre, along with Avaya Stadium in San Jose. More as we learn more.

Filed Under: Wi-Fi Tagged With: Avaya, Avaya Stadium, Bell Centre, Mobile Sports Report, Paul Kapustka, Pepsi Center, Stadium Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi

New Report: First look at Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center

January 19, 2017 by Paul Kapustka

MOBILE SPORTS REPORT is pleased to announce the Winter 2016-2017 issue of our STADIUM TECH REPORT series, with a first look at the pervasive stadium technology built into the Sacramento Kings’ new home, the Golden 1 Center.

Also in our latest in-depth publication created specifically for the stadium technology professional and the stadium technology marketplace is a profile of a new Wi-Fi deployment at the Indiana Pacers’ Bankers Life Fieldhouse, and a profile of new Wi-Fi and DAS networks deployed at Arizona State’s Sun Devil Stadium. We also provide an update on how the new Wi-Fi network at Houston’s NRG Stadium is getting ready for the upcoming Super Bowl LI.

Renting a Wi-Fi network?

In addition to our historical in-depth profiles of successful stadium technology deployments, our fourth issue for 2016 has additional news and analysis, including a look at whether or not stadiums will soon be able to lease their Wi-Fi networks. Download your FREE copy today!

We’d like to take a quick moment to thank our sponsors, which for this issue include Mobilitie, Crown Castle, SOLiD, CommScope, JMA Wireless, Corning, Samsung Business, Xirrus, Huber+Suhner, ExteNet Systems, and Extreme Networks. Their generous sponsorship makes it possible for us to offer this content free of charge to our readers. We’d also like to thank you for your interest and support.

As always, we are here to hear what you have to say: Send me an email to kaps@mobilesportsreport.com and let us know what you think of our STADIUM TECH REPORT series.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, Cisco, DAS, MSR Guides, NBA, NCAA Football, NFL, Super Bowl, Verizon Wireless, Wi-Fi Tagged With: 4G LTE, AT&T, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Cisco, DAS, Extreme Networks, Golden 1 Center, Houston Texans, Indiana Pacers, Mobile Sports Report, NBA, NCAA, NRG Stadium, Paul Kapustka, Sacramento Kings, Stadium Wi-Fi, Super Bowl, Wi-Fi

Vikings hit peak of 4.32 TB for Wi-Fi use at U.S. Bank Stadium, with average 43 percent take rate

January 12, 2017 by Paul Kapustka

Game day at U.S. Bank Stadium. Credit all photos: Vikings.com (click on any photo for a larger image)

While the football season may not have gone exactly to Vikings’ fans wishes, the Wi-Fi network at U.S. Bank Stadium performed well during its inaugural NFL season, with a peak single-game data total of 4.32 terabytes used, part of a season average of 2.89 TB used during Vikings games.

According to statistics provided to MSR by Tod Caflisch, vice president and chief technical officer for the Vikings, the biggest data-use day was Sept. 18, 2016, during the regular-season home opener for the Vikings against the rival Green Bay Packers, a 17-14 Vikings victory. That contest also saw season highs for unique Wi-Fi users, with 31,668 fans connecting to the Wi-Fi at some point of the game day, and for most concurrent users, with 17,556 users connected at the same time. The 31,668 number represented a 49 percent take rate, with the game’s reported attendance of 64,786.

Even though Caflisch said the Vikings didn’t heavily promote the AmpThink-designed Wi-Fi network — which uses Cisco Wi-Fi gear in mostly handrail-mounted AP locations to serve the main bowl seating areas — the average take rate during the season was at the high end of numbers we’ve seen, with a 43 percent average over the two preseason and eight regular-season Vikings games.

And even though the total data-used number only crested 3 TB one other time in the season — a 3.16 TB mark during a 30-24 Vikings win over the Arizona Cardinals on Nov. 20, 2016 — the average mark of 2.89 TB per game showed solid, consistent use.

Caflisch said that the Vikings and U.S. Bank Stadium were also able to correct the train-snafu issue that arose at some of the early events at the new venue, which has a light-rail station right outside the stadium doors. While some of the first events had big lines of riders and not enough trains, Caflisch said that during the season extra trains were held in reserve at the transit station that is close to Target Field (a few stops down the line from U.S. Bank) and then filtered in as Vikings games neared their end.

“We were able to clear the [train] platform in 40 minutes after the last game,” Caflisch said. “The fans really loved the trains.” (More U.S. Bank Stadium images below)

Vikings fans gather outside the stadium for pregame activites.

Great nighttime view with city skyline visible through windows.

A look at the handrail Wi-Fi antenna mounts (this photo credit: Paul Kapustka, MSR)

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Cisco, NFL, Super Bowl, Wi-Fi Tagged With: AmpThink, Cisco, Minnesota Vikings, Mobile Sports Report, NFL, Paul Kapustka, Stadium Wi-Fi, Super Bowl, U.S. Bank Stadium, Wi-Fi