In many parts of Canada and the United States, people who have no choice but to work-from-home (and school from home) are learning that high-speed Internet is a disparate experience based on the provider and postal code. The same beautiful geography (trees, mountains and valleys) that attracts many people to rural areas, is the reason that Internet connectivity can be poor at best. And now the higher-than-normal Internet traffic we’re currently experiencing has put a spotlight on the vast disparity of Internet service.
The technology designed by Mage Networks – MagiNet™- is radically different from other technology providers. MagiNet™ sees through (or around) even the biggest obstacles, delivering seamless Internet using mesh networks.
Mesh networks have long been regarded as a simple type of network to deploy over difficult terrain. It’s the best solution for these areas because each device can connect to every other device, thereby providing multiple paths for the Internet signal to flow. Traditional tower-based networks have a central tower beaming the signal in straight lines. If the terrain or an object blocks the straight line, there will be a dead spot where the tower cannot “see”. Additionally, as the signal moves further away it loses strength, which decreases the data rate (the connection speed measured in millions of bits per second, Mbps).
However, it’s a well-known fact that mesh networks commonly have a fundamental flaw – the inability to maintain data rate over multiple hops. The Mage team (with hundreds of man-years of research experience) designed MagiNet™ such that they’ve tested it over 20 kms with 14 hops and ZERO data rate loss. This means that obstacles and terrain that previously prevented consistent wireless service are no longer a problem and MagiNet™ delivers High-Speed Broadband more cost-efficiently and quickly than traditional solutions.
Here are a few other ways MagiNet™ is distinguished from traditional technology:
We go low. Where traditional technology must leverage greater heights, our units are installed at heights of 3 – 5 m. This lowers the installation costs, speeds up the installation process, avoids polluting the spectrum over large areas and allows for multiple networks side-by-side.
We reduce power. While traditional technology requires greater use of power our network uses a fraction of the power. The data pipeline relay consumes 5 watts which means the cost of power is low, smaller backup batteries to maintain power during blackouts, smaller, lighter solar panels. This leads to lower/simpler installation even in areas with no available power source.
We go short.Fade margin, a measure of the quality of a connection, is high resulting in more consistent high performance regardless of weather conditions. Having wireless or satellite service drop out during rain, storms or blizzards is a common occurrence in rural areas.
We go narrow. Using narrow beam antennas lowers interference, increases the fade margin, reduces spectral pollution and permits multiple data pipelines in close proximity to each other. Antennas on towers are intended to cover a huge area, therefore making it open to interference and forcing a large separation between towers. It is why many services have to rely on expensive licensed spectrum, while Mage can use unlicensed spectrum.
MagiNet™ uses the most advanced devices on the market, capable of carrying 1 Gbps, of data. In our current Bragg Creek design, we have six (6) Data Pipelines which means we can pour in 6 Gbps of data into the whole area. To achieve similar numbers you’d either need to invest in fiber (which costs millions of dollars) or invest in approximately 20 towers, which would also cost millions of dollars.
Mage Networks is currently in the process of deploying a network in the Bragg Creek area, which will bring fast, reliable and consistent Internet to homes and businesses.
We’re excited to be part of the Bragg Creek community and even more excited to connect you to great Internet! You may have seen us around the community, testing the network or perhaps here online (we’re on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn) busy answering questions.
For your convenience, we’ve compiled questions we’ve been asked so far. We’ll be updating the page regularly as we progress with the network.
What is the timeline for the Bragg Creek network deployment?
Our team has been busy since the fall of 2020 revising our deployment plans. We’ve been working closely with FortisAlberta and have submitted all necessary poles for approval (we expect to have a positive update soon.)
We know the hardship that lack of internet causes, so we understand the disappointment and frustration from people counting on us to get them connected.
To all of our customers who have signed up and are anxiously awaiting connection – thank you for your continued support and patience.
Mage Networks FREE community Wi-Fi coverage in Bragg Creek:
Who is Mage Networks?
Mage Networks is the Canadian Internet Technology company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta.
What does Mage Networks do?
Our network is a combination of fiber and our own technology, MagiNet™.
MagiNet™ is formed by hardware and firmware designed by our team and seamlessly uses wireless and wired connections to create wireless coverage over, under, and around any sized area without degradation in speed or consistency.
Is your technology as good as you say it is?
Our network is a new breed of mesh networks.
Unlike cellular towers, we use a series of interconnected nodes, instead of all units having to connect to one access point. We place as many nodes as needed, wherever they are needed to bring Internet access directly to a specific area and guarantee no data rate loss.
That means that even obstacles like trees or buildings – even the weather – do not impact the signal strength and you’ll have reliable high-speed Internet. In effect, the connection is made where it’s needed and not where it’s not needed (such as cows in a pasture getting great service from a nearby tower).
Where are Mage Networks deployed?
Mage has deployed networks in Alberta, Grand Cayman, Accra, Ghana, and Monrovia, Liberia. We are currently deploying in Powhatan, and Warrenton, Virginia. We’re currently rolling out service to areas in and around Bragg Creek, Alberta, including Redwood Meadows and Millarville.
How are you planning on delivering power to the nodes in West Bragg?
Units on power poles will get their power from the poles. There are a couple of areas in West Bragg that have buried cables. However, there are above-ground connection boxes that we will use. We will be working with the residents/homeowners/homeowners associations and/or whomever else we need, to come up with solutions to mount and power our equipment.
What kind of experience can we expect with Mage Internet?
Our technology, MagiNet™ provides symmetrical speed. This means that the upload and download speeds have the same maximum limit. Mage doesn’t cut corners on bandwidth and we’re the only ISP that has implemented Guaranteed Streaming Bandwidth™ (we cover that below.)
What is Guaranteed Streaming Bandwidth™, GSB™?
We don’t cut corners on our bandwidth and that’s why we’re the only ISP to offer Guaranteed Streaming Bandwidth™ (GSB™) This refers to the minimum speed of an Internet connection. Minimum speeds matter if you’re using services that require constant streaming. For example, Netflix requires that you have a speed of 5 Mbps to ensure you have a good experience with high definition quality (no buffering or spinny icons.) The design of our network allows us to guarantee that our minimum speed will never go below 7 Mbps.
Which tower does Mage Networks get a signal from?
Our Internet service isn’t based on a tower or cellular service; we use mesh technology. Our technology MagiNet™ directly connects any home and business in an area that wants our Internet service and does not get a signal from a tower. Mesh technology uses a series of small interconnected antennas. For example, in the community of Bragg Creek the Internet feed (backhaul) we connect to, comes from the Alberta SuperNet Fibre Network (there’s a Point of Presence (POP) in Bragg Creek.)
Does your technology rely on fiber or satellite?
Our network is a combination of fiber and our own technology, MagiNet™. MagiNet™ is formed by hardware and firmware designed by our team and seamlessly uses wireless and wired connections to create wireless coverage over, under, and around any sized area without degradation in speed or consistency. The Internet feed (backhaul) we connect to comes from the Alberta SuperNet Fibre Network.
Are networks built by Mage Networks 5G?
No.
3G, 4G and 5G are used by cell phones, whereas MagiNet™ uses Wi-Fi frequencies for the bases of the network.
What equipment and cables have to be installed?
MagiNet™ works by bringing the Internet to your home wirelessly. We install a small antenna (not much bigger than a smartphone) on the exterior of your home. This connects to our wireless network in the community. From the antenna installed on your home, we run an ethernet cable to a Wi-Fi router or directly to your computer.
Can we use our own router?
Yes. You may use your own router, both wired and wireless. You also have the option to directly connect your computer to the ethernet cable we provide. However, this limits the number of devices you can connect.
How long does installation take?
The actual installation time can vary based on the type of residence. However, the average installation time once our installer is on-site is approximately two hours.
How much do your Internet service packages cost?
We currently offer Residential Internet Service and Business Internet Service. To learn more about our packages, you can find more information here: https://mage-networks.com/braggcreek/
What are the Terms and Conditions?
We’ve done our best to simplify our Terms and Conditions so that you don’t need a law degree to understand them. You can find them here: https://mage-networks.com/conditions/
Are Mage Networks regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)?
We are regulated and licensed by the CRTC. Additionally, we meet the internet code which was applied to the Big 10 back in January (however, we do so voluntarily.) Here’s more information about the Internet Code and its applications: https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/internet/code.htm
How Secure is the network?
The Mage Networks ISP infrastructure encompasses the network components between the customer premise and the Internet Service Provider(s). Mage Networks is responsible for the security of the Mage ISP infrastructure. Mage Networks uses the most current wireless encryption protocols, stringent password controls, and internal best practices which generally exceed industry standards. Mage Networks has controls in place to monitor, review, and adjust security practices on an ongoing basis to ensure policies and standards are followed and regularly updated.
As a user, you have an integral role in making your communications secure:
Implement a secure Wi-Fi password on your router,
Use the latest routers and the best encryption,
Ensure that your computers and devices are updated regularly (companies are constantly identifying and fixing weaknesses in their operating system.)
Practice general safe and standard security practices.
What do ISPs mean when they use the term “up to”?
They don’t guarantee anything because there are too many factors out of their control. They don’t guarantee it if you are their only customer. With high usage, they don’t have a minimum performance no matter how bad it gets.
What is Mage’s Maximum Download Speed?
Currently, our maximum download speed is 100 Mbps.
What is Mage’s Maximum Upload Speed?
Currently, our maximum upload speed is 100 Mbps.
What are stepped Down Data Rates?
Other service providers say: “if you are a big user we’ll choke your speed to nothing to get you to stop using our network so much.”
Mage doesn’t do that.
Unlimited Data Rate: use our network as much as you want, the worst you’ll ever get is our GSB™ (7 Mbps)
How and when will you be addressing the Bragg Creek to Priddis corridor?
Our mission is to connect everyone, everywhere to reliable Internet – this includes the corridor between Bragg Creek and Priddis. The priority and order of regions we deploy our network in are determined by the number of homes, severity of connection, and the difficulty of reaching them (*trees and hills are difficult to go through.)
The regions we’ve zeroed in on were expedited as a result of mobilized residents. Homeowners and business owners who were looking for better Internet, helped bring awareness of our technology to their neighbours and key decision makers. The result is enough interest to make a region viable from a network and business perspective. From there, we design the network from the nearest POP. Our network is engineered to reach every single home within an area, connecting them to reliable Internet.
We encourage residents who are experiencing poor or unreliable Internet connection to speak with their respective MPs, MLAs, County Councilors, county, and municipal administrators, as well as their homeowner’s association.
Our network (MagiNet™) doesn’t rely on towers or satellites. Unlike other service providers, we can go through and around trees, valleys, and difficult terrain to deliver high-speed broadband anywhere. We use data pipelines in a series of small hops where the locations are strategically selected to distribute the data from central locations. Those data pipelines carry multiple signals in multiple directions, intelligently choosing whichever routes will avoid obstacles and interference with other data pipelines. The data automatically zips on and off wired and wireless connections to maximize efficiency.
First and foremost, Mage Networks is committed to keeping our employees and customers safe during this unprecedented time. As such, starting March 13, we implemented our response to COVID-19, including changes to our processes internally and externally.
Internal Safety Measures:
We have implemented a work-from-home mandate for all of our office staff.
For employees who must work from one of our offices, we’ve implemented a sign-up calendar to allow for limited persons in each respective office at any given time to allow for proper social distancing as outlined by Alberta Health Services.
Our offices are supplied with appropriate cleaning agents so our employees can safely sanitize their hands, keyboards, and other equipment.
External Safety Measures:
We’re committed to limiting unnecessary contact. As such, our technicians drive independently to the worksites and maintain a six foot separation during installation.
Our technicians are supplied with PPE to be worn throughout any work completed on a customer site.
Our technicians have also increased hygiene practices, sanitization of vehicles and hardware.
We’re proud to offer our services to help keep Albertans connected.
For more information, please contact us at 1-855-624-3477 or info@mage-networks.com
Mage is very pleased to announce that we have now installed our equipment on homes in the Village of Waiparous, Alberta, a very thickly wooded and mountainous community west of Cochrane, Alberta.
First off, we wanted to thank the wonderful folks in Waiparous for their hospitality and support when we were out with Velocity Networks for the installation. As you know, we didn’t get to all ten houses as planned within these first two days.But we’ve connected five locations, with four homes receiving broadband as of today, since the first home is just the network starting point, and did not need broadband service from us.
Here’s the run down of our installation, which took place on August 21 and 22, 2018.
Day One
Getting the microwave links onto home #1 from the cell tower was not difficult, but the hop from #1 to home #2 was a tricky angle, with many trees, and caused a lot of debate and repositioning.Also, home #2 needed three units mounted on it, and we had some issues in getting the best positioning angles established. This put us behind our expected schedule, but we carried on to home #3 even though the first link wasn’t quite ideal yet. Luckily home #3 was an easy hop, with a strong signal, and the homeowners were very accommodating of our changing schedule!The day ended well, proving out our equipment’s robust capabilities through trees.It also helped us to learn a few things for the future, such as which kinds of tools we should bring to make the job easier, prepping our equipment setup, and simply having a sandwiches and water to get through the day.We were fortunate that the Velocity installers were so knowledgeable in the hardware, and helped us avoid some key technical problems.
Day Two
It seemed like everyone started the day exhausted from the day before (definitely sore backs and feet) and it required a good dose of patience to realize that we needed to move and reinstall equipment, partly due to following industry conventions of using rooftops as locations.In fact, we discovered trees are far better tackled at lower elevations than high ones, as the trees are thinner at the bottom. After some good hands-on tests of the signal strengths, we again found our momentum and carried on.We corrected and mounted the hops between homes #1 and #2, and then went on to connect #3 to the hop, which was a two-home site (owned by the same person), so we’ll call it #4/#5.
The hop from #3 to #4/#5 longer than expected.There are immediate trees around the homes, a ridge, a downhill, then and another uphill, then the house is even higher….we couldn’t see it at all, so it was nearly impossible to determine how to point the antennas.We were wandering through trees hanging our fluorescent vests as markers, trying to create straight lines to reach and find connect the two houses, and driving around as well. Finally, success! We found the correct aim, and got a great signal to a fence.The homeowners were super friendly and told us they’d just installed a conduit we could use to run a cable to their other home, so we got two homes for one hop!Yahoo!
Velocity stayed at these homes to finish the install of the home routers, and we went on to the house #6.We were really pleased to see that when Velocity was finishing at #4/#5, the homeowner had her iPad going, and her grandson came running out and excitedly asked, “Is there internet inside now?”After she nodded, we saw him run inside and then back out again, saying, “I need the password Gram!”Our guys had a good belly laugh when they heard her coyly reply to him, “Are your chores done?”
As to the unexpected location of the radio being low on her porch, the homeowner also told us she didn’t mind us mounting it there, saying she was glad they weren’t “big and ugly” like the satellite dishes on other homes.
By the time #4/#5 homes were fully installed, Adam, one of the Velocity installers seemed genuinely impressed. We heard him say to the homeowner there, “You’ve got internet, and you’ve got amazing speed!” Then he told us, “I just tested the speed, and we haven’t dropped any speed along the entire pipeline!” Gary (who was assisting Sisso) proudly replied, “That’s the magic in the Mage.”Despite this terrain and trees in Waiparous, everyone is now very confident that this actually is going to work!
Our team had a bit of time leftover on Day 2 to test the signal to home #6 well, using hand-held equipment. By then Velocity’s installers had some good suggestions as to how and where to locate the equipment. It appeared they were really getting the hang of it.The test worked very well, but we’d run out of time to implement and install it that day….in fact our install team had really run out energy– hiking through trees and doing this kind of work is quite physically demanding, and they were simply exhausted.We did tell the homeowner we’d be doing some fine tuning of the network and get back to him as to an installation date.
Network Performance
We had a few bumps in the first couple weeks after installation, and most of these have already been resolved.The network is running well, and we’ve seen data usage of the 4 homes in the network reaching as much as 22.9 GB/day. But it can do even better with some minor upgrades, which are being rolled out soon.
What’s happening next
1.Moving the starting point: The first hop (from home #1, which is only a mount location not receiving service, to home #2) is working, but we’re not entirely happy with its signal strength. We believe we might be able to start the network at house #2 instead. This would give house #2 a much stronger signal, and make the whole network run better.
2. Setting up monitoring: The existing network firmware does not allow Velocity’s monitoring software to access the information it needs; it requires a monitoring software layer set up, which we call this a VL2, a second “virtual layer”. Without VL2 functionality, homes can experience either very fast or very slow service depending on who else is using the network, and for what (e.g. watching video, or just doing emails).The software upgrade will monitor and regulate the use of the bandwidth and look for problems. Mage just completed development of the VL2 software this week, and we’re testing it now.Velocity should have it implemented and running some time next week.
3. Homes awaiting service: One of our lessons learned during this process is that the final four homes in the original network would probably not be reachable without some intermediate homes to provide full connectivity. We decided that rather than install the next homes when the first ones aren’t quite ready, we’d correct these ones and then get to homes 6 through 10. We do have one final issue:There is one hop that is too long to reach, and we are going to see if we can get permission to locate at an ideal spot.We might need another neighbour or two to join the network. Trees are very thick and sight lines difficult, but with another hop, we’ll should be fine. Velocity and Mage intend to identify the intermediate homes needed and/or select a new set of homes to connect. For now, we want to monitor and ensure the performance of the network is our satisfaction (and the homeowners’ too) before going any further. If you’re a homeownerin Waiparous, we encourage you to stay tuned for more information coming soon.
Learning to install wireless broadband through trees
We’re a far cry from being good woodsmen here, but we’ve come a long way in the past month, thanks to the folks in Waiparous and the ISP, Velocity Networks, giving us this opportunity. And while we’re on this topic, we must also mention the great skill and patience of the install team at Velocity Networks….they caught a few problems for us before they happened, and their skill and preparedness has been critical to our success so far. Thank you Jason, Bob and Adam!
The type of network we are deploying is a world wide first. There is no available research or knowledge covering the types of difficulties we are facing. Despite everyone’s tremendous experience deploying traditional networks we are all learning and discovering new concepts. We are continuing to work and develop the best configuration for Waiparous; it is making us better as a company and a technology, and we are not going to rest until there is have fast, beautiful internet service in the enchanting mountain forests of the Village of Waiparous!
It was a great pleasure to attend a conference in Pittsburgh this week concerning community broadband. Unlike most other conferences we have attended so far, which were largely directed at wireless internet service providers (and hence more like trade shows of technology), this one, called “Next Century Cities” was more of a forum to spur change in communities needing or wanting to take their broadband issues into their own hands.
Speakers were largely government representatives at the town, rural municipality, state and even federal levels, including former FCC Chairwoman, Mignon Clyburn -an inspiring speaker.
We were quite amazed to learn that the National Broadband Map produced by the FCC was a major underrepresentation of actual broadband coverage in the US, and by the speakers’ conversations on stage, the need for broadband improvements appears acute in both rural and in many urban areas. One of the speakers who had done extensive testing on broadband access revealed that the National Broadband Map’s coverage indicators were based on it being “available in a census block if the provider does or could, within a service interval that is typical for that type of connection – that is, without a extraordinary commitment of resources – provision two-way data transmission to and from the internet.” Let us translate that: it’s what could be done not what is being done map of coverage. The same speaker concurred with online criticism of this tool as being a “$350 million boondoggle”. (The good news for Mage is that the need for our technology is even more desperate than we realized).
Communities in the US are angry about not only inadequate coverage, but also the oligarchical structure of the telecommunications industry, which they say favours incumbents and keeps small communities from finding ways to improve their own situations. One speaker screened quite a dramatic documentary called “Do Not Pass Go” which showcased conflicts between federal (siding with large telcomm companies) vs. local communities without broadband. Regardless of what side one sits on this issue, it was a shame to see community initiatives stymied, especially when incumbent telecomm providers had already rejected these areas as worthy to support new broadband infrastructure (i.e. fiber).
Ms. Clyburn actually spoke about the acute need for a different kind of “business case” for rural broadband infrastructure. While private companies look only at the ROI based on getting the monthly homeowner revenue to pay it back, the communities themselves look deeper at the rationale and its effects. For example, the need to retain residents in their communities, the need to retain and attract businesses, the need to educate their youth, the need to maintain property values and the need to provide overall communication with the outside world. All of these have some dollar value not being considered by telecomm providers; yet these factors are critical to communities. Like water, heat and electricity, broadband is vital to rural communities’ ultimate survival. If these other factors could be prioritized, and even quantified, if need be, perhaps there would be more commitment. Or, perhaps the ultimate solution is to allow more free rein on community broadband initiatives and not deem them “unfair competition” for private (incumbent) telecomm providers.
Certainly, what we did notice at this conference is that everyone we spoke to was keenly interested in hearing more about what we could do to help their communities, both through our equipment, and in partnering with our ISP partners such as Aer Wireless in the US, who attended the conference with us. In fact, in situations where US communities do wish to take initiatives into their own hands, and yet must legally use private company partners instead of acting as their own ISPs, Mage has a solution. Our partner, AER Wireless, can not only provide our equipment, but also a huge range of services that go with it, for example:
In cases where a community wants or plans to get more fiber built, deploying MagiNet can be a give high-speed broadband in the gap period. Then, when fiber connections are finally constructed, our ISP can move it to another area and re-use it. This way, areas of need can get an immediate solution to get them connected, and use the new subscriber revenue from the temporary solution to help finance the fiber network build. In other words, build up cash from the wireless network to finance some fiber where needed.
In cases where grants are available, careful planning of where fiber and MagiNet should be deployed stretch the grant immensely – giving far better connectivity for the buck.
Deploying seamless high speed outdoor Wifi in a given area such as a downtown or commercial zone – assisting in economic development initiatives such as business attraction and retail foot-traffic retention. Such networks, promoted with good signage, can also get drivers to pull off the highway and boost tourism.
Enabling soft-phone in areas with poor cell-phone access, at a fraction of the cost.
Enabling emergency life-line and 911 service with complete coverage.
Deploying temporary, portable networks in the case of bad weather/natural disaster events where communication is locked out.
Using networks to facilitate large events – such as a festival – as it can be deployed within days and moved/reused later.
Reaching First Nations and very remote communities without damaging their lands, and giving them a solution they can self-install and locally maintain.
The good news is that for Mage, the need for our technology is even greater in the US than we realized. The conference organizers told us directly, “Everyone is talking about you guys. You are the only people who came to this conference with a potential solution to the problem.” Indeed – affordable, fast rural broadband is what we are here to provide.
Needless to say, we are buried in leads, and following up feverishly over the coming weeks.
We recently headed down to Taber to capture feedback on video for our pilot network there, which was installed in early April 2018. It was a terrific day – great weather, but moreover, the town had just taken delivery of a brand new firetruck and invited us up in the bucket to get some nice crane shots (photos and video of the town)! Wohoo – thank you Taber!
Note that since the media prefer to use raw footage in order to build their own stories, we left the footage raw and unedited!
The speakers, in order are as follows. The numbers mark the minutes and seconds, if you’d like to skip:
Cory Armfelt (0:00) – the Chief Administrative Officer of Taber
Kim Welby (4:01)- Community Economic Development Officer (provincial government representative) from Community Futures
Ben Young (9:48) – Economic Development Officer, Town of Taber (bearded fellow, black shirt)
Ken Holst (14:04)- Saunders Insurance, local business owner
Gary Drew (15:13)- Installation consultant to Mage Networks
Once again thank you the superbly articulate Cory, Kim, Ben and Ken for participating, and for your excellent feedback and to the fire crew who took our video crew up for the view!
Thanks also to our terrific video crew – Gary Drew and Han Siu for making this all happen. Good thing you guys weren’t afraid of heights.
illage of Waiparous, Alberta, a very thickly wooded and mountainous community west of Cochrane, Alberta.
The hop from #3 to #4/#5 longer than expected.
We had a few bumps in the first couple weeks after installation, and most of these have already been resolved.
We’re a far cry from being good woodsmen here, but we’ve come a long way in the past month, thanks to the folks in Waiparous and the ISP, Velocity Networks, giving us this opportunity. And while we’re on this topic, we must also mention the great skill and patience of the install team at Velocity Networks….they caught a few problems for us before they happened, and their skill and preparedness has been critical to our success so far. Thank you Jason, Bob and Adam!
