Connecting mining camps
The Origin Gas Gathering Village, built by Hutchinson Builders, is located at Condabri, outside of Miles in western Queensland. The camp is made up of 135 dongas which house 400 individual living units, dining room/cafeteria, wet mess, gym, laundry, and on-site offices.
HSE Communications was appointed to deliver the electrical and communications network for the site. Origin wanted an efficient and effective network that could offer FIFO workers total WiFi coverage for smart technologies such as Skype, Apple Facetime and social networks.
HSE faced numerous challenges during the planning and install of the network. The accommodations are constructed using materials that obstruct the in-building penetration of a wireless network; therefore whatever solution they chose would need to circumvent this issue.
Network access control provided another challenge. Origin wanted to protect against unauthorised access, allow management to monitor user numbers, and allow access based on the identity of users/devices i.e guest or employee.
The remote location meant that getting equipment to site and maintaining the network once installed could prove costly.
The network infrastructure also had to be scalable and easy to transport to allow for any changes to the site. Madison Technologies recommended a carrier-grade outdoor WiFi base station, which uses 802.11n technology and operates in the 2.4 and 5 GHz unlicensed bands.
The Base Station uses beamforming, 2×2 and 3×3:3 MIMO technologies to deliver up to three times the coverage of alternative solutions, even in non-line-of-site (NLOS) and poor RF conditions such as those present on the Condabri site.
The Base Station’s access control functionality offers true visibility of the network at any time for both tracking and reporting.
Madison Technologies’ wireless technical specialist conducted proof-of-concept testing on site prior to purchase to ensure that the solution would provide the required coverage and in-building penetration. The Base Station delivered outstanding indoor penetration with connectivity for indoor users from outdoor-located base stations.
The wireless network solution recommended by Madison Technologies offered superior WiFi coverage and inbuilding penetration in poor RF conditions, while providing simple scalability for any site modifications. The solution delivered significant cost savings to HSE. The proof-of-concept testing ensured that the network was easily installed and worked as expected from the moment of install.
The access control system also allows Origin to optimise the wireless coverage and adapt the network to suit any changes as the site grows.