The View from Here

I may be a place I’m not necessarily supposed to be. More to follow; stay tuned…

Here's the Rest...so...EDITED

If you've ever looked up to the skyline here in Seoul, you've no doubt seen loads of items similar to the one pictured in my rooftop photoshop as the image for this post. Maybe you've seen them and not thought much about them, or perhaps you have seen them and not really noticed them.

It's also possible you notice them no matter how poorly disguised as pine trees they tend to be. Whatever the camouflage used to blend these objects into their surroundings, my eyes cannot help giving them extra attention.

So, what are they?

What you are looking at there is a classic example of cellular antennas. The technology behind them is not terribly dissimilar from your WiFi at home or in the café you are sitting in sipping your cup of Joe right now. The main difference is that these big boys tend to use a different means of transmission.

Microwaves...not just for Hot Pockets

It is helpful to think of the energy emitted from and received by (not just) these cellular antennas as part of the electromagnetic spectrum—because that's what it is. I've heard it explained as infra-infrared light. But where I am not a physicist, nor will I attempt to explain it that way, I will say that framing in radio waves with comparison to the energy of light is somewhat helpful for me.

As you can see, microwaves are just below the infrared portion of the spectrum, followed by radio waves with slightly less energy. That means the cellular data is beamed from one tower to the next with waves at only a slightly higher frequency than those used to send music to your FM receiver—it's high-power radio!

Fear Not

If you are worried about the emissions from these antennas, let me put your mind at ease. There isn't enough wattage available to the antennas to do much damage to your leftovers. There are differences from country to country and carrier to carrier, but these are some of the estimates I've come across:

20 Watt for GSM 900 and LTE 800
10 Watt for GSM 1800 & UMTS
6 Watt for WLAN & LTE

Compare that with the common household popcorn burner at 1200w, and you will see why I am not really concerned to get so close for the photo opp. Furthermore, cellular data is not broadcast transmission and, as a result, ramps up and down its wattage requirement based on load.

So why am I telling you all this?

I'll tell you after this coffee break...

Keep us brewing!

Nothing good in IT ever happened without coffee.Thanks for your support!

Buy us a coffee

Glad you're back. I hope your brew was fulfilling. Mine was a locally roasted Kenyan blend from a roastery by the name of Sanchez. I'll see if I can get a photo of the shop the next time I pass by on my bike. Now back to the story.

There is just something to be said about the appreciation of the hard work that has been done in connecting us all. Something of a sense of pride as a network engineer wells up within me when I see the hardware that represents the planning and deployment that makes our modern mobile connections possible.

It blows my mind to know how rigorous the certification for CCNA is (after having passed it over a year ago), and yet how little the certification concerns itself with wireless technologies. As a matter of fact, there is a whole CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional) specialization that scratches the surface—Designing Cisco Enterprise Wireless Networks (300-425 ENWLSD)—if you are interested.

There is still a lot about wireless technology out there for me to learn, but the more and more I dive down this rabbit hole, the more and more intriguing I find it. I am not pledging to certify in wireless design, but this post is mostly my way of announcing that I am focusing on wireless design for the foreseeable future.

If you see someone on a rooftop taking pictures of wireless equipment installed by your local ISP, don't be shocked to find me behind the camera. And keep your eyes open for more of these towers of connection; once you start to recognize cellular radios and antennas, you start noticing them everywhere.