Wavion’s WiFi access points could help Google in SF

Updated

Wavion is a San Jose-based start-up (with offices in Israel) that says it has a better technology to provide metropolitan area WiFi access points for the outdoors.

It has been in stealth until now. It says it is not too late for Google to consider using Wavion access points to wire San Francisco (clarification: We’ve since been reminded that Google’s partner, Earthlink, is the anchor tenant in charge of the SF project, and so this will be Earthlink’s decision).

It is backed with $22 million from big-name venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, as well as Elron Electronics, Star Ventures and BRM Capital.

Wavion says it delivers stronger connections at higher speeds, and with fewer dead spots. One
Wavion access point does the work of three to four conventional action points, which lowers costs for service providers, the company says. Click on graphic below for comparisons; Wavion is on right, convention access point is on left.

The company says conventional metro WiFi installations require a dense deployment of access points, and that is why Google has been delayed in meshing Mountain View with WiFi.

Founded in 2002, the company uses what it calls MIMO (Multiple In, Multiple Out) technology. Each access point has six antennas, and they each have transceivers that are both transmitting and receiving. The company’s scientists did their PhDs at Stanford in the early 1980s, including early work on smart antenna technology.