Dave Matthews Band's Wireless Network

[Brad Isaac]

A little interesting tidbit from Dave Matthews Band. No, it's not a new CD. It's that they use a couple of Vivato Wifi micro cells, they are able to more efficiently deploy their equipment and monitoring computers.
"SAN MATEO, Calif., Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Vivato, a scalable Wi-Fi
systems infrastructure company, announced today that the Dave Matthews Band (DMB) is using the Vivato(R) extended coverage Wi-Fi architecture to power its portable high-speed wireless network as it performs at more than 60 different indoor and outdoor venues across the United States this year. Using between two and four Vivato micro cells depending on the size of the venue, the Dave Matthews Band is able to keep its "rolling corporation" operating at peak efficiency at every concert tour stop by leveraging the portable wireless network powered by Vivato. Compared to alternative access point-based systems, the band uses only one-third as much Vivato hardware -- while delivering greater coverage and capacity -- and can set up and break down the system twice as fast.
"The Vivato wireless network is literally and figuratively the backbone of
our entire operation -- without it, we could still play great music, but we
could not perform as a multi-million dollar self-promoting music enterprise,"
said Rudy Arias, information technologies manager for Dave Matthews Band, Inc.
"Long gone are the days of 'roadies' strewing nearly 5,000 feet of wires
around stadiums, amphitheaters and arenas. Vivato allows us to set up and tear
down quickly and get onto the next show with very little downtime. Because we
are so reliant on this wireless network and everything it offers -- from
auditing our online ticketing to Instant Messaging between family and friends
of the band and crew -- we often joke that it has become the new addiction on
tour."
With venue size and topography varying dramatically from city to city, the
DMB needed a flexible Wi-Fi architecture that could not only provide wireless
broadband over extended areas -- tens of thousands of square feet both indoors
and outside -- but also one that could overcome interference challenges
inherent in RF-intensive concert environments.
Having evaluated competing Wi-Fi access point solutions, the DMB found
Vivato to offer the most portable, yet robust network on the market. "Vivato's
family of extended range Wi-Fi products are far superior to other products we
looked at," says Arias. "Vivato provides mission critical functionality for
us. Because showtime doesn't wait, Vivato enables us to be 'always on.'"
The DMB used the Vivato system at more than 50 concert venues during its
summer tour and more recently this month during its "Vote for Change" tour.
With a traveling staff of 60, combined with opening act bands and backstage
crew members, approximately 75 people benefit from the network at each tour
stop for a multitude of tasks, including:
-- administrative, accounting, and ticketing services
-- audio/video set list queue accessed locally from a centralized FMP
database by audio, lighting and video production
-- real-time publishing of music set lists for concert fans
-- personal business, such as paying bills and video conferencing with
friends and family
"The Dave Matthews Band is widely recognized as a technology pioneer in
the music industry, and we are proud to be associated with them," said Chris
DeMarche, senior vice president of marketing and business development for
Vivato. "As we have demonstrated at numerous other stadiums and sport/concert
arenas around the country, our technology is ideally suited to bring
ubiquitous broadband to large venues. In addition to allowing users to enjoy
convenient broadband connectivity wherever they roam, Vivato hot zones provide
a business-critical wireless backbone essential to conducting every day
business -- especially for multi-million dollar 'rolling corporations' like
the Dave Matthews Band." "