NRG Stadium hit 4.11 TB on Wi-Fi for Texans-Raiders playoff game

January 30, 2017 by Paul Kapustka Leave a Comment

NRG Stadium. Credit: Houston Texans Instagram

In what became the last live tune-up before the Super Bowl, NRG Stadium in Houston saw fans use 4.11 terabytes of data on the venue’s new Wi-Fi network during Houston’s 27-14 playoff victory over Oakland on Jan. 7, according to the Texans.

Jeff Schmitz, vice president of information technology for the Texans, said that NRG Stadium also saw approximately 35,000 unique users on the network at the playoff game, a 48 percent take rate against the total attendance of 71,790. The peak concurrent user number for the game was almost 24,000 users, with all numbers setting season highs for the network that debuted at the NFL season start, according to Schmitz.

“The playoff game was definitely the biggest” network-traffic day for the Texans, said Schmitz in a phone interview. During the talk Schmitz clarified that the network went through a serious up-and-down stretch during the middle of the season, due to under-seat Wi-Fi AP enclosures that didn’t completely seal out moisture.

Under seat APs visible down seating row. Credit: 5 Bars

While MSR had previously reported on the issue, Schmitz clarified that the full replacement of the APs took place in late October, meaning that the network staff had to basically re-tune and adjust the network in the later months of the season.

But the 4.11 TB mark and the large number of connected users for the playoff game was a sign that the network was in fine shape for Sunday’s Super Bowl LI, where if history offers any guidance there might be another new record set for single-day Wi-Fi usage.

The number to beat is the 10.1 TB mark from Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium last February, part of a 26 TB wireless day (with 15.9 TB recorded on cellular and DAS networks).

Wi-Fi coaches staying for Super Bowl

Schmitz also said that the Extreme Networks “Wi-Fi coaches” would be on hand for Super Sunday, helping fans figure out how to connect to the Extreme-based network and its 1,250 APs.

“We thought we’d only keep the coaches (who roam the stadium helping fans with network issues) for half a season, but with the switch [in APs] we ended up having them there for every game,” Schmitz said.

Wi-Fi gear visible above concourse kiosk. Credit: 5 Bars

Having the Wi-Fi coaches at the Super Bowl also makes sense since many fans at that game will likely be visiting NRG Stadium for the first time, as opposed to Texans season ticket holders.

Though NRG Stadium won’t have to contend with temporary structures like those built on the concourses at Levi’s Stadium last year, Schmitz said there is some extra network work ahead to make sure the auxiliary press box area has “beefed up” Wi-Fi as well as wired connections for media use.

Another thing missing from last year’s Super Bowl is the ability for fans in any seat to order beverage delivery via the game-day app. Though details of services for the Super Bowl app have yet to be fully announced, Schmitz said the only in-seat delivery would be for premium club-level seats, which in addition to app-based ordering will have live humans who can take orders from fans for in-seat delivery, something Texans fans have available during regular-season games.

“That service [fans ordering from servers] gets used the most,” Schmitz said.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Apps, DAS, Extreme Networks, Levi's Stadium, NFL, Super Bowl, Verizon Wireless, Wi-Fi, Xfinity Tagged With: 4G LTE, DAS, Extreme Networks, Houston Texans, Levi's Stadium, Mobile Sports Report, NFL, NRG Stadium, Paul Kapustka, Stadium Wi-Fi, Super Bowl, Super Bowl 50, Super Bowl 51, Super Bowl LI, Super Bowl Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi

Sprint sees 797 GB at college playoff title game; will have separate DAS for Super Bowl

January 19, 2017 by Paul Kapustka Leave a Comment

Ready for the playoffs and Super Bowl! Credit: 5 Bars

More results from fan wireless usage at the recent College Football Playoff championship game is trickling in, with Sprint claiming it saw 797 gigabytes of data traffic from its sites in and around Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

Added to the 3.8 TB reported by AT&T on its networks, we now have a running total of approximately 4.6 TB of DAS usage for the Jan. 9 game between Clemson and Alabama, which Clemson won 35-31 on a last-second TD. We are still waiting for reports from Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile, so stay tuned.

We also have yet to receive any reports of Wi-Fi traffic from Raymond James Stadium officials, so it’s still undetermined how “big” of a wireless event the college championship game was this year. In the past two years, the CFP championship was among the top Wi-Fi single-day usage totals, but so far the Raymond James Stadium folks haven’t responded to any calls or emails requesting information. Anyone who was at the game who wants to comment on the Wi-Fi performance, feel free to jump in to the comments below.

Sprint on its own DAS at NRG Stadium

We also learned from Sprint and from NRG Stadium officials that Sprint will be on its own DAS and small cell network for the Super Bowl, and not on the new Verizon DAS that was installed last year. In a Sprint blog post the company said it saw 637 GB of data on its NRG Stadium network for a December Houston Texans game, ahead of what it saw on its networks during last year’s Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

According to David Moore, manager of information services for NRG Park, Sprint installed the original DAS in the venue, ahead of Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004. AT&T and Verizon “migrated” to the new Verizon DAS last season, and T-Mobile will also be on the Verizon DAS, according to Moore.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, DAS, NCAA Football, NFL, Sprint, Super Bowl, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless Tagged With: 4G LTE, AT&T, DAS, Mobile Sports Report, NCAA, NFL, NRG Stadium, Paul Kapustka, Raymond James Stadium, Sprint, Stadium Wi-Fi, Super Bowl, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless

New Report: First look at Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center

January 19, 2017 by Paul Kapustka Leave a Comment

MOBILE SPORTS REPORT is pleased to announce the Winter 2016-2017 issue of our STADIUM TECH REPORT series, with a first look at the pervasive stadium technology built into the Sacramento Kings’ new home, the Golden 1 Center.

Also in our latest in-depth publication created specifically for the stadium technology professional and the stadium technology marketplace is a profile of a new Wi-Fi deployment at the Indiana Pacers’ Bankers Life Fieldhouse, and a profile of new Wi-Fi and DAS networks deployed at Arizona State’s Sun Devil Stadium. We also provide an update on how the new Wi-Fi network at Houston’s NRG Stadium is getting ready for the upcoming Super Bowl LI.

Renting a Wi-Fi network?

In addition to our historical in-depth profiles of successful stadium technology deployments, our fourth issue for 2016 has additional news and analysis, including a look at whether or not stadiums will soon be able to lease their Wi-Fi networks. Download your FREE copy today!

We’d like to take a quick moment to thank our sponsors, which for this issue include Mobilitie, Crown Castle, SOLiD, CommScope, JMA Wireless, Corning, Samsung Business, Xirrus, Huber+Suhner, ExteNet Systems, and Extreme Networks. Their generous sponsorship makes it possible for us to offer this content free of charge to our readers. We’d also like to thank you for your interest and support.

As always, we are here to hear what you have to say: Send me an email to kaps@mobilesportsreport.com and let us know what you think of our STADIUM TECH REPORT series.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, Cisco, DAS, MSR Guides, NBA, NCAA Football, NFL, Super Bowl, Verizon Wireless, Wi-Fi Tagged With: 4G LTE, AT&T, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Cisco, DAS, Extreme Networks, Golden 1 Center, Houston Texans, Indiana Pacers, Mobile Sports Report, NBA, NCAA, NRG Stadium, Paul Kapustka, Sacramento Kings, Stadium Wi-Fi, Super Bowl, Wi-Fi

NRG Stadium Wi-Fi ‘soft launches’ at Texans preseason game

August 26, 2016 by Paul Kapustka Leave a Comment

The Houston Texans gave their fans more to cheer about with a 16-9 preseason victory over the New Orleans Saints last Saturday, but what might have made a lot of people happy at NRG Stadium was the unofficial debut of the stadium’s new Wi-Fi network, which was available in a sort of “soft launch” mode.

We say “sort of,” because according to people who were at the game there was pretty heavy promotion of the new network’s availability, with bandwidth sponsor Comcast distributing flyers in seat cup-holders as well as making in-stadium announcements about the wireless connectivity. NRG Stadium had been one of the few NFL venues without Wi-Fi, but with the Super Bowl headed to Houston at the end of this season installing Wi-Fi became a priority.

Starting after the Final Four concluded this past spring, integrator 5 Bars and Wi-Fi gear provider Extreme Networks got busy, eventually installing approximately 1,250 Wi-Fi APs inside NRG Stadium. According to 5 Bars representatives, many of the APs in the seating bowl were installed under the seats, a deployment method that is becoming a trend in larger stadiums.

Though we don’t have any stats yet (since the network isn’t really “officially” launched) we did hear from network sources that there was a good uptake on the system, and we are looking forward to watching the Wi-Fi’s performance this season leading up to Super Bowl 51 in February. If any fans out there hit another Texans game anytime soon, send us a speedtest of the Wi-Fi!

Filed Under: Comcast, Extreme Networks, NFL, Super Bowl, Wi-Fi Tagged With: Extreme Networks, Houston, Houston Texans, Mobile Sports Report, NFL, NRG Stadium, Paul Kapustka, Stadium Wi-Fi, Super Bowl, Super Bowl 51, Wi-Fi

Comcast bringing backbone bandwith to NRG Stadium Wi-Fi

August 18, 2016 by Paul Kapustka Leave a Comment

Free Wi-Fi is something Houston Texans fans will be able to cheer about this season at NRG Stadium. Credit: HoustonTexans.com

With the new Wi-Fi network just getting ready to go live at Houston’s NRG Stadium, Comcast announced that it will provide backbone bandwidth to the network under a sponsorship deal, with two 100-gig pipes that will both be available to the stadium facility.

Michael Bybee, a Houston-based director of external affairs for Comcast, said the company has a large fiber network throughout the Houston area, and a longtime relationship with the NFL’s Texans, making the network sponsorship deal a great fit. Comcast supplies (or will soon supply) similar broadband bandwidth to a number of other large stadiums, including the San Francisco 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium, the Sacramento Kings’ new Golden 1 Center, the Atlanta Braves’ new SunTrust Park, the Denver Broncos’ Sports Authority Field, the Detroit Tigers’ Comerica Park, the Tennessee Titans’ Nissan Field and the Oakland A’s Oakland Coliseum, among others.

In Houston, where integrator 5 Bars is installing a new Wi-Fi network using Extreme Networks gear ahead of next February’s Super Bowl 51, Bybee said Comcast will have two 100-gigabit per second pipes coming into the stadium, where they will feed a main 10-Gbps circuit for the regular-season NFL Wi-Fi needs. Should the stadium require more circuits, Bybee said, the facility will be able to “seamlessly add additional circuits” given the surplus of bandwidth supplied by the 100-Gbps pipes.

Though there hasn’t yet been an official announcement of the network being ready for public use, sources tell us that fans at Saturday’s preseason game between the Texans and the New Orleans Saints should finally find fan-facing Wi-Fi (look for the xfinitywifi SSID), an amenity that had been missing at NRG Stadium in the past. Anyone who goes to the game — send us a speed test!

Filed Under: Comcast, Extreme Networks, Levi's Stadium, NFL, Super Bowl, Wi-Fi Tagged With: 5 Bars, Extreme Networks, Houston Texans, Levi's Stadium, Mobile Sports Report, NFL, NRG Stadium, Paul Kapustka, Stadium Wi-Fi, Super Bowl, Wi-Fi

AT&T: Fans used 2.28 TB of cellular data during Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games

March 31, 2016 by Paul Kapustka Leave a Comment

As the march toward the Final Four continued, fans at the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 venues for the men’s NCAA basketball tournament used a combined 2.28 terabytes of data on the AT&T networks in those venues, according to AT&T. The highest weekend total came from games at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, where 680 GB were used, according to AT&T.

Combined with the 3.6 TB of data AT&T said was used on its networks at first- and second-round sites, that makes a total of 5.88 TB used so far on AT&T cellular and DAS networks at the various hoops arenas. We’d like to hear from other carriers as well, but none have contacted us so far.

Data totals at this weekend’s Final Four in Houston should be interesting, since the host venue, NRG Stadium, doesn’t yet have a Wi-Fi network. Both AT&T and Verizon have beefed up cellular coverage in and around the arena, but without Wi-Fi it may be hard for fans to top last year’s total of 11 TB used at the Final Four at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Remember — all Final Four games this weekend are on TBS, not CBS! Of course you can also stream the games if that’s easier.

Filed Under: AT&T, Basketball, CBS Sports, DAS, NCAA Hoops, TBS, Turner Sports, Wi-Fi Tagged With: 4G LTE, AT&T, DAS, Final Four, Houston, Mobile Sports Report, NCAA, NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, NRG Stadium, Paul Kapustka, Stadium Wi-Fi