We sat down with Innsbrook Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Chris Moore to talk about the improved wireless internet technology (WiFi) that he and Innsbrook’s internet technology contractor have been working to bring to the property. Many devices use WiFi, e.g. personal computers, video game consoles, smartphones and tablets. These can connect to a network resource such as the internet via a wireless network access point. Such an access point (or hotspot) has a range of about 66 feet indoors, and a greater range outdoors.

While we do encourage property owners and guests to ‘unplug’ and disconnect from the world outside the gates in order to reconnect with family and nature, we understand that there are some things you need to get done and you need the internet to do them. Besides, we wouldn’t want you to miss our latest blog or social media posts, or be unable to download helpful forms from our website or share your Innsbrook photos with friends and family!

Innsbrook VP and CFO Chris Moore

What work has Innsbrook done to improve WiFi availability on the property?

WiFi at Innsbrook has received a tremendous upgrade through the use of Microwave technology. This technology allows for our buildings to be separated by substantial distance. In the past this distance has prevented Innsbrook from providing a reliable broadband internet connection to both corporate staff as well as our property owners and guests when at events.

How will the recent changes in WiFi impact Innsbrook Property Owners?

The property owners will see a substantial increase in internet speed while accessing guest networks within public spaces at Innsbrook facilities, i.e. the Aspen Center, Clubhouse, Property Management Building and Real Estate Sales Office. Also, a more transparent impact will be security of any transactions that have occurred with the corporation. Public access is no longer available to the corporate network. All guests are on a segregated network (IBK-Guest) from the corporate staff. If you’d like to access the network, all you need to do is ask an associate for the password!

And how will this benefit businesses looking to hold corporate meetings/conferences at Innsbrook?

Businesses looking to hold events at the Aspen Center or Clubhouse now have much better connectivity to the outside world. Prior to this upgrade, Innsbrook’s Point of Sale system and other systems competed with guests for very limited bandwidth space. This limitation caused for poor internet performance for guests, as well as poor performance with our Point of Sale system and computer connectivity at all facilities.

You can access free WiFi at the Aspen Center, including in the Firefox Room!

What are some challenges you faced when trying to set up new WiFi infrastructure?

The two largest challenges faced by Innsbrook were: 1) Distance between facilities and the limitations of the copper wire between the facilities, which were state-of-the-art at the time of installation, and 2) The limitation of the connectivity by our Internet Service Provider for bandwidth to the entire Innsbrook property. We had to have our Service Provider install new fiber-optic cable to our connection point at Highway F, as well as overcome the distance between our facilities through over-the-air microwave dishes that require line-of sight to operate.

Are there plans for even more improvement or expansion of the network or other technology in the future?

The future plans focus on two things: 1) Implementing a similar set of dishes and connections at the Condos, as the technology there is also aging and regularly has poor performance, and 2) Making certain that the new infrastructure takes into account the increasing needs of bandwidth for users for video, music and other forms of streaming through the internet.

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So grab yourself a cup of coffee at the Aspen Center, lounge in the Foxfire Room overlooking Lake Aspen and spend some time uploading those photos you took of the kids on a trail hike, discovering the wonders of nature at Innsbrook. And until you’re lucky enough to get outside and return to that nature yourself, just remember: