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Wi-Fi-enabled CCTV cameras are helping to reduce anti-social behaviour in North Lanarkshire

Having Wi-Fi access when and where we need it is the rule rather than the exception these days, but both Wi-Fi and alternative fixed wireless network technologies are being used for much more than just providing us with cable-free internet access in offices, hotels and public spaces.

Some of these more unusual wireless applications evolved because they offered a more flexible and cost-effective solution than wired alternatives, while others have taken connectivity to areas where networks have never previously been.

CCTV security systems
Wireless technology is being harnessed for CCTV systems in urban areas, for example, where fixed cameras need to be deployed or relocated quickly according to demand, or where the cost and complexity of cabling wired equivalents cannot be justified.

Emma Walker is company manager of North Lanarkshire CCTV, created by North Lanarkshire council in 1997 to manage its regional CCTV security system, which covers 300 public spaces in seven town centres, housing estates and schools.

The system is based on a wireless communication network built by MLL Telecom consisting of five node points around the Local Auuthority. These nodes are mounted on high-rise, council-owned, residential buildings in Motherwell, Coatbridge, Airdrie, Wishaw and Cumbernauld, providing a coverage area of more than 100 square miles. Currently, only 10 of North Lanarkshire’s cameras are wireless, but Walker plans to deploy another 10 in the future. Up to 10 cameras can be connected to a wireless access point attached to a wired network, which streams the pictures back to North Lanarkshire’s HQ.

“There is a slight delay, but the streaming video is real time, and is recorded onto a DVR hard drive,” says Walker. “The footage is reviewed daily, depending on individual cameras, and kept longer while the police are investigating if there is an ongoing incident. We submit about 40 to 50 evidence tests per month to the police.

“All incidents are recorded, and there are a lot of community safety benefits as well,” says Walker. “If we are putting the cameras into an area which is quite well known for youth disorder, the deterrent does have an impact quite quickly.”

After proving how successful wireless IP cameras can be for urban surveillance purposes, North Lanarkshire CCTV is also looking to provide commercial services to other organisations, which will help bring in revenue for re-investing in the region’s public space monitoring services.

“We have a lot more coverage than we had before, at a fraction of the cost of a fixed camera and the time to deploy it,” says Walker. “Depending on where we can get power from, we can deploy a wireless camera in a couple of weeks as opposed to months with a wired camera.”

Fixed wireless broadband
High-speed wireless links also play a part in extending fixed, rather than mobile, broadband links to locations that wired networks do not reach, either because they are too remote and/or because it is not cost effective for network operators to supply them.

A number of specialist, regional ISPs have built their own wireless broadband networks to serve business and residential customers, some using mesh and others using fixed WiMax technology.

Earlier this year, wireless broadband provider Cybermoor upgraded its WiMax network access points (APs) in Alston Moor, Cumbria, to support higher-speed services and eliminate interference issues with other wireless equipment. The new APs, supplied by Proxim, transmit data at up to 12Mbit/s using the licence-free 5.8GHz waveband.

As well as wireless broadband access to paying subscribers, Cybermoor, which is a community-owned broadband project partly funded by local government initiatives, will also look to provide e-health services and telemedicine applications in conjunction with the NHS in Cumbria.

Kent-based ISP VFast also offers WiMax-based networks to subscribers within its coverage area, and Vtesse Networks is currently trialling WiMax and Wi-Fi services in Chapel Plaister in Wiltshire.