The Concept.
The idea of a wireless network was brought to Cyprus by the founder of D.S.S. Limited some 7 years ago, but the concept was thwarted over the years by local licensing which until recently strictly prohibited the use of wireless equipment for public network distribution. Although eager to make this service available to the public & watching several other companies start up illegally using domestic type 2.4GHz equipment, we wanted to wait until the local regulations relaxed as Cyprus entered into the EU then allowing us to use 5GHz (HiperLAN2) wireless equipment designed for professional ISP use.
Our network has been deliberately designed to be simple. In our experience Simple = Reliable.
The key to a reliable wireless network in Cyprus or anywhere for that matter is the locations of your Primary Access Points for the areas you wish to cover. After 6 months of negotiations we have secured what we consider to be the best logistical location for our Primary Access Points, allowing us to cover an area from Cape Drepanum (Sea Caves) right along the coast to Yeroskipos with the use of three of our hi-powered Access Points thus cutting the number of failure points in our network to the absolute minimum. Network Coverage Map.
100% Fixed Line Bandwidth.
We are dedicated to providing a quality service & therefore ALL of our bandwidth is solely provided via ISP Fixed Lines. We do not resell Satellite bandwidth because they offer inconsistent latency and poor reliability.
We are so committed to the quality of your service that our office network uses a completely separate internet connection to that of our customer network to ensure that our in house day-to-day bandwidth does not in any way interfere with the quality of our customers connections.
100% 5GHz (HiperLAN2) Wireless Network.
Our aim is not to become the largest Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) in Cyprus, but we do intend to build a reputation for being the most reliable WISP in Cyprus. To achieve the greatest reliability and speed our network is built using 100% 5GHz equipment direct from the end of our WWAN right to your home or business. Currently we are the only WISP in Cyprus Registered & Licensed to operate a100% HiperLAN2 network.
Why 5GHz Technology?
2.4GHz is the original standard for wireless networking (99% of laptops now have this technology built in for short rage connectivity) which has now been superseded by 5GHz systems & even 5GHz has a replacement WIMAX, but at this moment in time it is not licensable here in Cyprus.
5GHz equipment not only has 3 times the range of traditional 2.4GHz equipment, but the interference from other stations transmitting on the 5GHz band especially here in Cyprus is almost nonexistent giving a much more stable connection. More importantly still, 5GHz equipment when deployed at a sensible range (up to 15km using our sector antennas) suffers very little with weather interference. At a range of 12km when we have some of our traditional Cyprus winter rain we do see a drop in signal strength, but since we first started testing until now we have never lost a client or backbone connection to weather interference.
108Mbit Back Bone.
Utilising technology unique to our hardware, our back haul link consists of 2 separate 5GHz Point to Point wireless links routed into a co-phased pair. This co-phased link allows one link to transmit data, whilst the other link receives data giving twice the normal bandwidth in both directions & eliminating the problems of bottlenecking found on traditional equipment. Should one link fail, the equipment is designed to fail safe and the one remaining link will automatically take over both send & receive functions so the link remains operational.
Wireless Security - How Secure is a Wireless Connection?
These days security is at the forefront of everyone's mind and is something we as a responsible WISP take very seriously. In comparison to a traditional internet connection your connection to our wireless system is in actual fact vastly more secure. With a traditional hard wired internet connection all an intruder needs to find is your external IP address in order for he/she to sniff the packet data that your PC system is sending to and from the internet & with the aid of a small software application (many of which are available free from the internet) read the contents of the packets, hence why on-line payment pages etc. are secured using 128 or 256 bit encryption.
First and foremost, because our system does not use any 2.4GHz frequencies no one can sit in a car with a standard laptop within the range of one of our transmitters or your property and sniff or hack at your connection or our network system without first obtaining a mobile 5GHz adapter which are not easily available anywhere let alone in Cyprus.
All transmitted signals from any of our equipment is at least 128 bit encrypted & above this there are two other levels of security that we will not disclose, one of these being unique to the manufacturer of our equipment meaning that someone attempting to gain access to our network would have to have equipment identical to ours before there was any chance of a successful connection, assuming they could then overcome the 3 levels of security. Beyond signal encryption our network has a central authentication server that will only allow connections to the network from authorised stations, any station failing to provide the correct credentials will be blocked on the second connection failure and the network administrator will be alerted.
Unlike traditional domestic 2.4GHz & 5GHz equipment our equipment will not allow direct communication between wireless client stations by design, therefore you are not at risk from other users on our network & this prevents the spread of any Viruses or Trojans from an infected PC to the rest of the network.
External Security - Hackers, Viruses & Spam.
We all hate Spam & everyone that uses the internet worries about catching a virus and clearing up the damage these malicious programs can cause. In order to make your internet experience as safe and enjoyable as possible our network is fully fire walled on multiple levels.
Active Packet Filtering (APF) - The APF system utilises advanced packet filtering technology to actively inspect each and every packet of data entering or leaving our network.
Hardware Firewall - Level Two uses both hardware and software to ensure that any traffic that passes through the primary firewall is correctly identified and is carrying the correct information for it's packet data type. This active packet filter is especially useful for capturing virus and Trojan activity but it also prevents hackers masquerading data packets as legitimate traffic. Email Spam is controlled at a software level by our dedicated internal and external mail servers. All of our mail servers are equipped with Anti-Spam filters and Virus Scanners to ensure that all mail that reaches your mail box is junk and virus free even if your mail is coming from another provider.
Rule Based Filtering (RBF) - Rule Based Filtering is one of our most valuable tools, it is basically a URL filter on steroids. The RBF assists us in protecting our clients from Malware, Virus's & Trojan's by comparing the web page the client requests with a list of known infected sites which is updated every 6 hours. Above and beyond the basic filtering we offer to all of our clients, the RBF also allows us to apply our Child Safe Browsing Filter for clients that wish to protect their children from the internet's less desirable content.
Our Child Safe Filter not only meets but exceeds the requirements laid down by CIPA (Children's Internet Protection Act).
Dynamic Content Analysis - DCA examines the actual web page content, text, HTML code and Malware/virus detection, using dozens of categories include pornography, drugs, race hate and gambling; in English and other languages. DCA detects and blocks the Anonymous Proxies that many people use to circumvent URL filters.
Despite all of our best efforts to offer you a 100% secure internet environment, we must stress that there is no such thing as 100% secure internet and at no time should users connect to the internet through our network (or any other) without taking the appropriate precautions to protect their system.
