Bountiful WiFi gains international interest
Company says its router has greater coverage area
By Jenifer K. Nii
Deseret Morning News
WOODS CROSS — David Egbert admits he has been called a "serial entrepreneur." But with his new venture, Bountiful WiFi, Egbert says he may be ready to put down roots. Deep ones.
Jason Olson, Deseret Morning News
Bountiful WiFi owner David Egbert, who has spent 25 years in the business/technology arena, says the Utah location offers everything his company needs.
"If anyone were to ask me what I wanted to do, I'd say I want to build great businesses, with great products. That defines me," said Egbert, whose ownership ventures during his 25 years in the business/technology arena included a software company and a predecessor wireless device company.
"This (Bountiful WiFi) might be it," Egbert said. "Here, we have a firm and strong cornerstone to additional products and thoughts that we have."
Bountiful WiFi, located at 707 W. 700 South in Woods Cross, launched its first product, the Bountiful Router, in late July. And in a matter of weeks, interest in the router — a device that forwards electronic data "packets" along computer networks — has been rolling in from Asia to Canada and across the United States, Egbert said.
"Wi-Fi" stands for "wireless fidelity," which is the popular term for a high-frequency wireless local area network —essentially enabling computer users to access the Internet without having to plug a computer into a telephone wall jack.
Bountiful WiFi says its router can provide two to four times the coverage area for wireless services than any other solution currently available, without additional gadgetry like extenders, boosters or amplifiers. It does so, Egbert said, by running at the highest power level allowed by the Federal Communications Commission. That means fewer routers are needed to cover an area, which reduces "contention" in the network and decreases data losses.
There are other players in the game, Egbert admits. Big ones with big names and big-dollar research and development. Cisco Systems, for example. Linksys.
"We do have competition out there that believe they already have a solution," Egbert said. "Others feel that they already provide a corresponding solution. But the price differentiation is dramatic. We're answering the questions in a different way, from a different angle, with a single turnkey solution."
Jason Olson, Deseret Morning News
Bountiful WiFi's router operates at the highest power level allowed by the FCC, its maker says.
Instead of a few thousand dollars for a radio and an amplifier, the Bountiful Router starts at $625.
The 78-room Comfort Inn & Suites in North Salt Lake was among Bountiful WiFi's first customers, and general manager Steve Oldaker says he's already seeing a payoff.
"The three key benefits of the Bountiful Router are its strength, coverage and dependability," Oldaker said in a statement. "I have talked with several hotels that are using other wireless solutions in order to gauge the performance of our wireless network versus theirs. The Bountiful Router consistently outperforms other products, despite the fact that I have only four routers in my hotel compared to at least eight in other buildings. I don't know if we could get the kind of coverage and signal strength we currently have if we didn't use the Bountiful Router."
The product isn't for residential use and is available only through value-added resellers and systems integrators. Ideal users include businesses, education campuses, hotels, warehouses and hospitals, Egbert says.
A Utah municipality, yet to be named, is next up to install Bountiful Routers. And if growth happens as planned, Egbert said Bountiful WiFi will develop a "significant presence" in the wireless industry.
"I'm not suggesting we're going to become another Cisco, but I am expecting significant revenues," he said. That could have a ripple effect in the broader local economy. Currently, Bountiful WiFi contracts with a Salt Lake law firm for its patent applications, a Salt Lake manufacturing firm to build its product, a Boston- and Provo-based firm to do its customer service and a Salt Lake agency for its public relations.
"Utah is home," Egbert said. "We don't see us having to go outside of Utah for anything we need."
