Hawaii Officially Launches TWC WiFi

At an event at the University of Hawaii’s Stan Sheriff Center last week, Oceanic Time Warner Cable officially announced that the company has begun deployment of TWC WiFi™, a statewide WiFi Hotspot network for its customers. Access to the TWC WiFi network is free to Oceanic Time Warner Cable customers with Standard Internet or above and to Oceanic Time Warner Cable Business Class Internet customers.

“Increasingly, our Hawaii customers want to take their high-speed Internet with them out of the home and on-the-go,” said Oceanic President Bob Barlow. “The TWC WiFi network we’re building for Hawaii will allow our customers to greatly maximize their TWC Internet subscription – at no additional charge.”

Oceanic Time Warner Cable’s President Bob Barlow

On Oahu, customers can access over 400 TWC WiFi Hotspots with hundreds more coming in 2013 as Oceanic Time Warner Cable builds out the network. TWC WiFi will be introduced at popular locations where residents eat, live and play. Recent additions are Sunset Beach, Kailua District Park and the Stan Sheriff Center. Below are some scenes from the night.

VIP access passes [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Garrison Yuen, Todd Silva and Travis Santos from our sales team are ready to address any TWC WiFi related questions [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Senior Director of Mobile Product Management Vijay Venkateswaran, University of Hawaii Associate Athletics Director John McNamara & VP of Wireless Engineering & Technology Ahmed Bencheikh [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Senior Manager of Mobile Product Management Dave Hawkins, John McNamara, Ahmed Bencheikh & Project Manager Les Young [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Ahmed Bencheikh, Bob Barlow & Vijay Venkateswaran hanging loose [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Director of Outside Plant Engineering & Construction Mitch Miyoshi & Ruckus Wireless’ Edwin Menor [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

University of Hawaii Associate Athletics Director Marilyn Moniz-Kaho’ohanohano, Wireless Coordinator Gwen Kojima & VP of Marketing & Sales Clara Long [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Project Manager Courtney Hubbard & boyfriend Clint [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Executive Administrative Assistant Leatrice Galicinao, Business Class Support Manager Shannon Morgan-Peirce & Director of Sales (GM) Maryann Sacharski [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Web Content Developer Cy Shinkawa, CyberCom, Inc.’s Peter Kay & Senior Marketing Manager Shelley Thomas [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Former Olympian and Beach Volleyball star Kevin Wong & Executive Producer of Live Sports Candace Fujishima [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Lt. Governor of the State of Hawaii Shan Tsutsui addresses the crowd. Read about the launch event on his blog here.

University of Hawaii Athletics Director Ben Jay

The crowd

John McNamara, Ahmed Bencheikh, Shan Tsutsui, Ben Jay, Interim University of Hawaii President David Lassner & Bob Barlow [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Clearly M’s Rob Bertholf and Ann Boots & Director of Marketing Matt Mishina [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

Business Class Marketing Manager Yvonne Yanagihara, Director of Wireless Kiman Wong & Marketing Specialist Maribel Quemado [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

VP of Business Services Cyrus Driver & Vijay Venkateswaran [Photo Credit: Kiman Wong]

AT Marketing’s Toby Tamaye, Shelley Thomas, Wireless Manager Edward Sugimoto & Maribel Quemado

Oceanic Time Warner Cable Internet customers also have access to the nation’s largest free WiFi Hotspot network, with over 150,000 hotspots, through the Cable WiFi network name. The network enables Oceanic Time Warner Cable Internet customers to access the hotspots operated by TWC and other cable companies in major cities across the country including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Orlando, Tampa, Kansas City, Austin, Charlotte and more.

To connect to TWC WiFi, users should look for the TWCWiFi network name in their connection manager, open their browser and login. To easily locate and access TWC WiFi Hotspots, customers are encouraged to download the free TWC WiFi Finder app available in Google Play and the Apple App Store or visit coverage.twcwifi.com to view the hotspot coverage map. For more information about Time Warner Cable WiFi, visit www.twc.com/wifi.

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Ready, Set IntelliGo! – Sharing Your Road Runner Mobile Connection Just Got Easier!

Late last month, Oceanic Time Warner Cable introduced an exciting, new product to add to the Road Runner Mobile lineup. Nicknamed IntelliGo, the Sierra Wireless W801 Personal Mobile Hotspot acts like a portable mini-router and allows you to share your Road Runner Mobile connection – on the go! – with up to 5 friends via standard Wi-Fi connectivity.

The IntelliGo, from Oceanic Time Warner Cable

Dimensions and Features

This portable little device (3.15″ x 3.15″ x 0.61″ and 4.6 oz) has a 1.4″ LCD display (displays key messages like your SSID and password, battery level, and amount of connected users), and comes with an 1800mAh battery (est. 6 hours of use) and USB/AC charger. There is also a microSD slot that can hold a card of up to 32GB. See below for a diagram and a hands-on video of the IntelliGo.

Diagram of the new IntelliGo

IntelliGo – Sierra Wireless W801 Personal Mobile Hotspot Unboxing

Technical Specs

Technically speaking, the IntelliGo receives in both 4G (WiMax – 2.5GHz) and 3G (CDMA – 800/1900 MHz) frequencies and transmits Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz) using the 802.11 b/g standard protocols.

What does this mean exactly? In layman’s terms, this simply means that the IntelliGo will get the greatest coverage (both 4G and 3G) wherever you go, and will share that via a common Wi-Fi signal that many of your devices already speak to.

Several examples of Wi-Fi devices that you might use are:

• Laptops
• Netbooks
• iPads
• Mobile phones (e.g. iPhone, Droid, Blackberry, Garmin Nuvifone, etc.)
• iPod Touch
• Nintendo DS
• Sony PSP
• Eye-Fi SD memory cards
• Microsoft Zune

Easy Set Up

The IntelliGo is really, REALLY easy to set up. Out of the box, all you would have to do is pop in the battery and hold down the power button to turn the puppy on. It will go through its cycle for a few seconds and display your default SSID (network name) and password on the external display (you can edit these in the settings later). Since it’s shooting out standard Wi-Fi, there isn’t any software to install device(s)!

Ed’s Tip: On the initial setup, I would recommend you use a laptop (something with a larger screen), as the setup wizard will guide you through several screens to configure your settings. I used my HTC EVO 4G (mobile phone) initially, and, although I was still able to get it done, it was a little tricky reading text and hitting buttons.

Once the IntelliGo powers up completely and has your default SSID and password displayed, go to your laptop and scan for new wireless networks. Select the IntelliGo’s SSID (named “TWC4GMobile-xxx”) and enter the password provided (a series of 6 random numbers). The LCD screen will then prompt you to open a web page, which will automatically redirect you to the Time Warner Cable’s Terms of Service page, which you must review and accept. This is a one time process.

One time Agreement screen

Once you have accepted the terms of service, you’re “All G”, unless you would like to configure your device further (change the SSID, password, encryption method, etc.).

Ed’s Tips: By default, the device uses WEP encryption. Probably for compatibility reasons (with older devices). I would recommend changing that to WPA or WPA2, as long as your connecting devices are compatible. I would also recommend changing the default SSID and password to something more personal and secure (the default 6 digit password is easy to crack). Lastly, I would recommend changing the default administrative password (“password” is used to access the IntelliGo’s administrative portal).

All of the above can be accessed by going to the administrative portal at http://twc4gmobile (192.168.0.1) while connected to the IntelliGo. This admin backend acts much like the 192.168.1.1 backend on your Linksys wireless router at home.

The IntelliGo’s Administrative Portal

Via this backend, you can also set up and control two other neat features of the IntelliGo: 1) GPS, and 2) the microSD Card.

You can use the GPS to find local points of interest, like hotels, restaurants, banks and gas stations. You can even pull up local Time Warner Cable offices! Sweet! With the microSD card configured, you can share files, music, pictures and more to your 5 connected devices.

If anything I wrote above went right over your head and confused you even more, here’s a more practical (and visual) look at what the IntelliGo (Sierra Wireless W801) is and how you can use it. It’s Hawaii’s resident tech expert Peter Kay breaking things down in simple, easy-to-understand terms in his video below.

Peter Kay’s Testimonial

Exciting huh? The IntelliGo is a pretty powerful device that I, personally, have been having a lot of fun playing with, and sharing with anyone and everyone who will listen. If you have any questions at all, feel free to email me using the form to the right or post a comment below.

If you’d prefer to educate yourself, feel free to check out one of the following, pertinent links:

• What Is Road Runner Mobile and Where Does It Work?
• AndHere.com Road Runner Mobile Blog (visually shows you where Road Runner Mobile works here in Hawaii)
• IntelliGo Sierra Wireless W801 Product Info Page
• Road Runner Mobile National Elite Plan (the plan you need for the IntelliGo)
  

If you can’t contain your excitement and know this is something you really want… NEED even 😛 , visit the ordering options page where you can order directly online via My Account, complete an inquiry form for a follow up, chat with one of our online reps, or call Oceanic Time Warner Cable direct.

Ready for some 4G/Wi-Fi fun? On your mark… Get Set… IntelliGo Go GO!

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Great News! If you order between now and September 30th, 2010 (with a two year contract), you can have the IntelliGo for just $49 ($50 mail in rebate). Order Road Runner Mobile Here

What Is Road Runner Mobile and Where Does It Work?

Road Runner Mobile first launched in Hawaii earlier this year, and, as with Road Runner High Speed Online residential service (launched back in 1997), there were a lot of early adopters. Like those who were “in the know” about broadband technologies (compared to dial-up) in ’97, those who are aware of 4G technology today have quickly jumped on the Road Runner Mobile bandwagon.

Road Runner Mobile Works Here!

There are some though, who need and want more information. With any new technology, that’s very understandable. This article will attempt to demystify everything Road Runner Mobile for you. I’ll break it down – in layman’s terms – so that it will hopefully give you the right tools to educate yourself as to what Road Runner Mobile is and see if it’s right for you.

What is Road Runner Mobile?

First thing’s first. Let’s watch the commercial to get warmed up…

Road Runner Mobile Commercial

In the opening scene, you’ll notice a female on the beach propping up some sort of device in her laptop. That is what’s known as a mobile device (or wireless card). Simply put, that tiny little device is what connects you to the Internet. It searches the airwaves for the 4G signal (or 3G if 4G is not available) and connects you to it. All you do is plug it in to your standard USB port on your laptop (or mobile device) and you’re good to go.

Currently, Oceanic Time Warner Cable offers the Motorola USBw100 or the Franklin U301 with more products and devices on the way (including hub/router-type devices, allowing you to share your 4G connection via WiFi). For more information on our current products, see below or click here.

Motorola USBw100

Franklin U301

For a hands-on look at the newest Franklin U301 device, check out this unboxing video:

Franklin U301 Unboxing

As the video mentioned, Oceanic Time Warner Cable is currently running a promo that actually allows you to get either card for free with your service (with a 2 year contract). If you’re interested in taking advantage of this offer, inquire with them today.

Every install comes with a free copy of the Connection Manager software, which allows you to easily manage all of your wireless Internet connections (4G, 3G, Wi-Fi) with just a few clicks.

Road Runner Mobile Connection Manager Software

You can customize it to do as much or as little as you’d like. For example, you can have it automatically find and connect to:

• the Road Runner Mobile 4G network
• a Road Runner Speed Zone (if you’re in a Road Runner Speed Zone hot spot)
• Wi-Fi networks if it finds it (e.g. when you use your computer at home, at work, or where hotspots like Road Runner Speed Zones are available)

You can even set the sequence of what to search for first, or turn them all off and set it to manual mode if you wish. The options are endless. It just depends on how you will be using it.

(Ed’s notes: Many netbooks and smaller peripherals these days do not have a CD drive, so you may wish to download them beforehand from the web here. This download should be the latest version of the Connection Manger software, but if there are any updates to it, or any other version(s) you load from the CD, etc., it will automatically download and install it for you as soon as you are connected. You may or may not experience a delay during this initial update.)

Where does Road Runner Mobile Work?

4G, which is short for 4th Generation, is a major upgrade from 3G. In fact, it is up to 10 times as fast as 3G*. For a reference, most mobile phones these days run over 3G. When you open up a browser on your phone and go to a web site, that is running over a 3G network. Imagine that same data going up to 10 times as fast. That’s 4G. (For more on 4G, read Kiman Wong’s articles here and here).

4G is the latest in cutting edge technology and we are fortunate enough to have it here in Hawaii so early on… even before the “big” cities like New York and Los Angeles. Currently, most areas on Oahu and the main towns of Maui are covered. Our unofficial 9th island: Las Vegas, Nevada is as well, as are cities in Washington, Oregon, Texas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and more. Over 35 in fact. For a growing list of 4G cities, please click here. To view a coverage map of ALL areas covered by Road Runner Mobile (4G or otherwise), click here.

Melissa Chang shows that Road Runner Mobile works in Hawaii

In Hawaii?

Perhaps you’re more of a visual person and don’t wish to read a boring, text based list of locations? Well, you’re in luck! Oceanic Time Warner Cable has developed a microsite called AndHere.com that illustrates where exactly Road Runner Mobile works around Oahu (and soon to be Maui). Oceanic Time Warner Cable, as well as some of Hawaii’s social media leaders (like Peter Kay, Melissa Chang, and Russ Sumida) take Road Runner Mobile out and about, take photos of where they’re at, run some speed tests, and post it for your viewing pleasure. It’s a pretty neat way to help us better understand what Road Runner is and where and how you can use it in your everyday life.

AndHere.com

For more on…

• Where you can find Road Runner Mobile here in Hawaii, visit andhere.com.
• Road Runner Mobile, visit rrmobile.oceanic.com.
• Oceanic Time Warner Cable, visit www.oceanic.com.
• How to order, click on the Road Runner Mobile Ordering Info Page.

* Based on download speed comparison of 3G’s 600 kbps vs. 4G’s 6 Mbps.