Adventures in Technology | XpressNet · Central Alberta · circa 1998–1999
These days, running a network means dashboards.
These days, running a network means dashboards.
Beautiful dashboards.
Graphs, alerts, performance metrics, uptime monitors, automated diagnostics, and notifications on your phone.
Back in the late 1990s, our wireless networking dashboard was considerably more primitive.
It consisted of a communications tower, an enormous dish, a laptop, and somebody willing to climb.
Want to check signal strength?
Go look.
Need to adjust alignment?
Get the wrench.
Connection not synchronizing?
Turn the dish a tiny bit and try again.
Was the weather interfering?
You didn't need a meteorological API.
You could feel it.
Usually directly in your face.
The technician on the ground could tell you whether we had connectivity.
Meanwhile, I could provide a highly accurate report on wind speed, temperature, and how much I regretted not choosing an indoor profession.
We didn't have cloud-based monitoring.
We were already in the clouds.
And they were freezing. ☁️📡😂