ISP Planet Article

Streakwave Wireless was founded in 2000 as a distributor of outdoor wireless equipment. "We carry everything from amplifiers to cabling to lightning protection, and we stock everything in San Jose, California," says company president Carl Moberg.
Moberg says two of Streakwave's key differentiators are its range of products and its location. "We take a lot of care, and we don't just sign any product linesand we stock the product here in San Jose," he says. "There are distributors that are central U.S. and East Coast, but the reality is that there aren't that many on the West Coastand we're right smack dab in the middle of Silicon Valley, which doesn't hurt."
The benefits of being located in Silicon Valley, Moberg says, reach far beyond just the ability to deliver orders quickly to clients. "The new products are being developed hereand the guys come by and they buy pigtails from us, and we see the stuff that isn't really out yet," he says. "I enjoy that part of it."
WISP expertise
In addition to the company's own perspective on quality product, Moberg says Streakwave often responds to client requests for new product lines. "If at a sales meeting we hear over and over that there's a specific product that people are using and we don't offer it, then we look into getting it," he says.
Many of Moberg's employees come from the WISP industrywhich he says helps the company advise customers on their needs. "We don't just hire any sales guy off the street," he says. "The guys here all have a lot of experience, and some of them have run WISPs. Collectively, I think, we have more experience in this arena than most."
Thanks to that range of expertise, Streakwave does everything from troubleshooting problems over the phone to full design and implementation. "If a company calls up and they need a point-to-point installed, we'll do the whole thing for them," Moberg says.
If it's not feasible to travel to the company's location, Moberg says, he often refers such jobs to other Streakwave customers. "We have a lot of really good customers that do thatit's what they do for a livingso we like to refer those leads to our customers as well," he says.
Moberg says the ability to offer that kind of support has led to a number of interesting projects. "We sell up/down converters to NASCAR for the in-car cams that you see," he says. "BMW Oracle Racing yachts, the America's Cup winners, we did all their wireless. And we've done a lot of stuff for the military. We get a lot of people calling and saying, 'This is what I want to do,' and we sit here and figure out a way to do it."
Pricing and delivery
Moberg says Streakwave tries to stay price-competitive, but doesn't feel it's crucial to have the lowest price in the market. "Price is not usually why we lose business," he says. "The only time you lose business in this market in my opinion is from bad service, or because you don't have the product on the shelf."
And he says there's lots of room in the marketplace for other distributors. "There's all kinds of resellers popping up every day," Moberg says. "We actually do a lot of fulfillment for those guys. There are a lot of different websites out there, e-stores, that when you order something from them, it's actually shipping from our warehouse."
For speed of delivery, Moberg says Streakwave's location makes all the difference. "We're located five minutes from the airportso for overnight, we have the latest in the nation, I think, just because we're on the West coast," he says. "You call us up Friday at eight o'clock on the East coast, and we can still get a product out for Saturday delivery for you."
To take advantage of that capability, the company strives to keep all products in stock at all times. "Generally, when we can't get things, it's because the manufacturer can't make it fast enoughand often that's because it's a hot new product," Moberg says. "So for our vendors, for any new products that they release, we'll put in a P.O. before they even manufacture the stuff so we have it on the shelf for launch."
The company recently launched a new e-store that provides full inventory management for vendors and in-depth account management for resellers. "It ties everything together so our accounting, our inventory or purchasing, our point of sale for the vendors, everything is all tied into one," Moberg says. "It's a huge projectit's been a year in the worksso I'm hoping that it makes it a big difference, and that it makes the customer's experience a lot easier and a lot smoother. That's really what it's all about."

Cognio Selects Streakwave Wireless as Newest Distribution Partner.

GERMANTOWN, Md. -- Cognio, the leader in cognitive spectrum analysis for wireless networks, today announced that Streakwave Wireless, a west coast distributor in San Jose, will be the first distribution partner in the United States to sell Cognio's successful line of Spectrum Expert solutions. Streakwave Wireless catapults Cognio's market reach by expanding availability of their award-winning product portfolio, and is well positioned to supply spectrum analysis solutions to enterprise customers and service providers who work with wireless operators, hot spot providers and local city governments throughout the US.

Cognio delivers enterprise-class spectrum analysis solutions for a range of WLAN applications including, WISPs, hot spot providers, municipal network operators, RFID deployments, service providers and IT system administrators; all of whom use wireless networks for mission critical business applications.

"We are pleased to bring Streakwave Wireless on board to help represent us in the United States," said Greg Barone, vice president of sales for Cognio. "Streakwave Wireless will be a strong partner for us given their extensive customer base, ability to open up new markets for Cognio and target new vertical markets for Cognio's product set. Together we will lay the groundwork for next-generation applications like voice over WiFi."

Cognio's Spectrum Expert solution delivers the tools to network IT managers that go beyond traditional spectrum analysis to actively "decode" the wireless spectrum--providing for the first time a clear and comprehensive picture of the devices using the wireless networking environment. This clarity helps system administrators, wireless ISPs (WISPs) field technicians, installers, integrators and service fleet managers actively monitor the wireless spectrum, keeping it more secure and operating at peak performance. IT managers now have a system that provides a complete picture of the network, making it as easy, if not easier, to manage and maintain than the traditional wired network.

"We are excited to add Cognio's Spectrum Expert to our product mix," said Carl Moberg, president of Streakwave Wireless. "Cognio is a market leader in this industry with the ability to support enterprises planning to add WiFi-based services to their WLAN, and their Spectrum Expert solutions address a clear need for our customers. Cognio's products allow our sales force to provide key solutions to our customers and partners, in turn, expanding their tool set to accurately detect, assess and solve issues surrounding critical application deployments."

Spectrum Expert technology supports all bands -- unlicensed 2.4 and 5GHz, in addition to the newly adopted 4.9GHz band for public safety networks. It captures and names the interference caused by Bluetooth devices, cordless phones, fax machines and 50Hz microwave ovens. As devices continue to proliferate, the importance of actively managing the physical layer and addressing interferers before the network is impacted becomes paramount. Bluetooth devices can be especially challenging to most traditional spectrum analysis tools because they hop between frequencies. Cognio's Spectrum Expert has the intelligence and ease-of-use features to locate and name these devices unlike most other competitors in the market.

About Cognio

Founded in 2001, Cognio is the leading innovator of cognitive spectrum-analysis products. Cognio's technology monitors wireless networks and solves wireless network problems. Cognio's products are applicable to a wide range of bands, including 802.11. Cognio is headquartered in the greater Washington, DC area, and is privately held with venture investments from North Bridge Venture Partners and ABS Ventures. Additional information is available on the web at www.cognio.com.

About Streakwave Wireless, Inc.

Founded in 1999, Streakwave Wireless Inc, "Streakwave" is a Global Value Added Distributor based in San Jose, CA offering a complete line of wireless solutions from top tier manufacturers. Streakwave offers equipment which utilizes both licensed and licensed free bands available for public use. Our solutions include; Point to Point back hauls and bridges, Point to Multipoint systems for all other types of WAN and LAN applications. Streakwave serves the Educational, Government, Corporate, Healthcare, Security and Consumer markets.

Note to Editors: (C)2006 Cognio, Inc. All rights reserved. Cognio, the Cognio logo, ISMS, and SAgE are registered trademarks of Cognio, Inc. All other product names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.