2016 has been a wild ride for us here at Cruzio Internet. It’s been a year of growth and action for us, as we expanded our network to be better than it’s ever been before, and prepared ourselves for one of our most important projects yet. Now that the year is almost over, we wanted to give all of you a look back at the last 12 months at Cruzio, and peek at what lies ahead for 2017.

We announced the beginnings of the Santa Cruz Fiber project

Probably the biggest project on everyone’s minds here is the grand step we’re taking to bring the future of internet to Santa Cruz County: Santa Cruz Fiber. Early this year, we announced the beginning of the project, with the goal of providing affordable, next generation broadband to every home and business in the city of Santa Cruz.

Over the course of the year, we’ve teamed up with a number of different organizations to take the bold step towards a “fiber future” early next year. We announced that the first part of the project will be bringing gigabit speeds to around 1000 homes and businesses in Downtown Santa Cruz, then expanding outward from there. And if YOU want to be a part of bringing gigabit internet to Santa Cruz, you can fill out our survey here!

We made our growing network bigger than ever

It’s been a year of expansion and exciting firsts for our hybrid fiber-wireless broadband network. In July, we launched the first commercially-available gigabit service in Santa Cruz. At 1000 Megabits per second, that’s way, way faster than anything else available! “This has been our goal for the last few years,” said Cruzio’s Director of Technology & Infrastructure, Chris Frost. “We’ve been rapidly deploying the latest in new technology and have been able to get speeds up to this benchmark level quicker than even I hoped.”

A couple of months earlier, in partnership with Siklu and the City of Santa Cruz, we were able to upgrade 15 buildings to gigabit speeds. The Tannery, Loudon Nelson, the Civic Center, City Hall and the Riverwalk Apartments are all among the buildings that  have the fastest internet in Santa Cruz. Along the way, we’ve also added dozens of great local businesses to our network, including Santa Cruz Shakespeare, Somagenics, Fullpower Technologies, and the Watsonville Film Festival.

We got a new sign!

Cruzio’s HQ at the old Sentinel Building has been a downtown landmark for years of course. But in September, we became even easier to find with the addition of our shiny, beautiful new silver sign. You may have seen it if you’ve taken a stroll along Cedar Street.

Our Business Broadband service turned out to be faster than we thought

Thanks to your excellent field technician, Parker Alwardt, who created the graph

When describing our Business Broadband service earlier this year, we underestimated our own capabilities. We described the service as getting “up to 30 megabits per second” in speed. As it turns out, and as you can see in the graph above, most users are actually getting 50 megabits or more…with a good number getting as much as 90! As we look toward our fiber future, it’s worth remembering that fiber already exists in Santa Cruz through our various other products, including our hybrid wireless-fiber network. We’re already using fiber technology to bring in excellent speeds like these to people throughout Santa Cruz County. Fill out an inquiry here to find out if you’re eligible.

We Fought to Stay Connected during the Loma Fire

An eagle watches over the Loma Fire.

On September 26th, disaster struck in the Santa Cruz mountains. As firefighters scrambled to get the Loma Fire under control, back here at Cruzio we were also nervously watching the blaze. At first, we looked on as anyone else would; worrying about the people, pets and animals who might be affected. But as hours passed, the wildfire started approaching an important facility at the top of Loma Prieta where we’ve spent years building infrastructure.

View of the Loma Fire from Cruzio’s security cameras, 8:36PM

What followed was a saga of late nights, early mornings, and close calls as our excellent technicians worked to keep the power for our equipment on, so they could make sure as few people as possible would see issues with their service. We didn’t completely avoid an outage, but the number of people affected was small and the effect was brief. The real heroes were the firefighters who worked around the clock for weeks at a time to stop the fire, and keep the damage at a minimum. If you want to read about the full saga of Cruzio and the Loma Fire, you can read our comprehensive breakdown (and see more of the incredible pictures from the scene of the fire) right here.

Loma Fire road block September 27th

We welcomed a big new team member

Our Director of Technology, Chris Frost, takes the bucket truck for a ride

Getting up to the top of tall buildings can be a difficult process for our field operations team So, last month we welcomed the newest member of our team: the Cruzio Bucket Truck — otherwise known as Number 88. So if you’ve got a very tall building, expect to see our new truck working hard with our team to make sure you have the fastest possible internet.

We held our 6th annual Open House Extravaganza

As we’ve done every year for the past 5 years, we welcomed thousands of people to our coworking and technology hub to come party with us at Open House Extravaganza 6.0. Our works members showed off their passions and projects, as the Santa Cruz community walked in to drink free beer from Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing, eat fantastic food from the Ate3One food truck, and listen to great music from Full Moon Rooster (featuring Cruzio’s own Field Operations Lead, Ariel Carter.) The real stars of the event, however, were our Cruzioworks members, who did a fantastic job showing off the projects they’re doing in our coworking space everyday.

Full Moon Rooster played bluegrass tunes all night long

Sales and Marketing Associate Brian is ready to enjoy a delicious Philly Cheesesteak at the Ate3One Food Truck.

And we’re looking forward to 2017

As we look ahead to 2017, there are even bigger changes coming to both Cruzio, and the Santa Cruz community. Early next year, we will launch our Santa Cruz Fiber initiative in earnest, with the goal of bringing gigabit fiber internet to all of Santa Cruz County. We will begin construction soon. So as we take a look back at everything we’ve done in 2016, we’re looking forward to making 2017 the best year yet!
Happy Holidays, and a Fantastic New Year to you from: Chris, Peggy, Mark, Paul, James, another Chris, Sandi, Ralph, Colin, Adia, Jesus, Alison, Dan, Morgan, Ariel, Justin, Andrew, David, another David, Alex, Brooke, Parker, Ani, Max, Josephine, Iasha, Josh, Laurie, Robert, Alana and Brian;

our fantastic interns & apprentices: Cameron, Rafferty,

and Jake, Annika & Carly (the grown “kids”)

Our coworker and friend Doug Ross passed away last week. He was a member of the Cruzio community for many years, and being forced to speak of him in the past tense is hard.

Doug at his marine mammal rescue post

Doug was a big man: strong, tall, enormously talented; generous, with a great big heart. He enriched what he touched and improved what he joined.

How to describe all that Doug did for us and for the world?

His art. We know his print-making best, but Doug could work in so many media. He once brought a beautiful Calder-esque wire horse sculpture to our workspace. He’d made it by twisting some wires together. Doug pivoted from commercial art to fine art several years ago, and we’re grateful for the freedom that gave him. His art is unique, memorable, and very recognizable.

Doug at Cruzioworks

His participation. At our coworking “Bounce Hour” get-togethers, Doug explained how he approached art, shared his Toastmaster training,and even organized an evening of sketching for our community. He led a chapter of Toastmasters. He was a beloved longtime member and leader, well known to other coworkers for his warmth and willingness to help.

His care for marine mammals. How many of us look out at the big ocean, full of wild creatures, and think, “I can help with that.” But perhaps the animal world has the most to thank Doug for. He regularly saved stranded sea lions and whales caught in garbage and debris. From time to time he’d get a call at work and he’d rush out to the beach or the bay to help a distressed animal. Doug’s strength, smarts and skill came in handy for cold water rescue operations, and he was summoned for the most difficult jobs.

His mad-scientist passion for solving problems. Doug invented equipment that will improve the process of untangling whales from debris.

Chris Neklason, Cruzio’s CEO, said

“A Venn diagram is a chart of intersecting circles. Each circle could indicate a talent or an interest. A Venn diagram of Doug would be an infinitely petaled flower with a blazing core.”

Most of all, we’ll miss seeing Doug walk toward us, coffee cup in hand, wryly smiling, saying hello. Any community is only as great as its participants make it. We all depended on Doug for his leadership and we will miss him terribly. Much love to his family.

One of the biggest perks of the Cruzioworks Community is our always-enlightening Bounce Hour.

Every Thursday at 10:30am, Cruzioworks members and their guests are invited to join us for engaging conversations ranging from political discussions led by numerous city council candidates, to simulations that show the factors that could lead to the end of civilization as we know it. Plus, there’s free snacks and coffee for everyone that shows up.

Today, we wanted to give you a sneak peak into exactly what you can expect from Bounce Hour if you decide to become a member yourself. Yesterday, Cruzioworks member Alex Lamb gave us an in-depth, and often darkly hilarious look into how data modeling can help us predict the future of the human race. Take a look:

Alex spoke about how he uses data to predict human behavior and explain how society as a whole makes decisions. He showed jaw-dropping models demonstrating everything from the dangers of using social media as news, to how commerce, white collar crime, and global unification can actually lead to modern civilization’s demise. But, throughout the whole discussion, he maintained hope for the future of the human race and discussed how we can avoid disaster moving forward.

Bounce Hours are only one of the many benefits to becoming a member of the Cruzioworks coworking community. As a 24/7 Member, you can also enjoy full around-the-clock access to our state-of the-art coworking hub. There, you’ll have access to our lightning-fast gigabit-speed fiber internet, well-appointed meeting rooms, and our on-site organic cafe — All starting at $179 a month. And if you only need to work normal business hours, we also have 9-5 memberships for just $129 a month.

Enjoy enlightening Bounce Hour discussions like Alex’s and the other Cruzioworks perks by signing up for a membership!

On First Friday November 4th, get ready to party with Cruzio and our Works members at our Open House Extravaganza 6.0. If you’re looking for rockin’ music, exceptional art, free drinks and fascinating people–we’ll have all of that for you and more. We don’t call it an extravaganza for no reason.

For the 6th straight year, you can party with some of the best local businesses and entrepreneurs, who’ll show off the innovative work they do every day here in the high-octane Cruzioworks community. And it’ll all be happening in our beautiful coworking and technology hub in the heart of downtown Santa Cruz.

If you’re looking for inspiration from art, local award-winning artist Doug Ross will park his vintage trailer near our building’s front door. Inside, he’ll show his unique brand of art, which has been featured everywhere from the New York Times to the Royal Bank of Canada. In the building there’ll be lots more art from local artists, so be sure to peruse as you sip.

Also in Cruzioworks, Joanna Nelson of LandSea Science will be on hand to discuss her years of experience and current work protecting our beautiful and precious Monterey Bay from climate change. And co-active life coach Karen Gray will spin her Wheel-of-Life to show you a snapshot of your life, and give you insight into how you can achieve balance and satisfaction.

These are only a few of the interesting exhibits that’ll be featured at this year’s event. You’ll be sure to find even more creative Cruzioworks members showcasing the work and art they do every day in Santa Cruz.

Even with all of these extraordinary exhibits, we know it wouldn’t be a party without food, music, and drinks. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

If you arrive thirsty,  the award-winning Santa Cruz Mountain Brewery will be pouring free certified organic draft beverages all night. And if you’ve got an eye for food, come grab a bite to eat at local food trucks parked right outside.

While you’re here, you can also enjoy the sounds of bluegrass band Full Moon Rooster, which includes our very own award winning Field Ops technician,  Ariel Carter!

And if you’re interested in the future of blazing-fast internet in Santa Cruz, we will be talking about our Santa Cruz Fiber initiative and giving a sneak peak into our plans to bring gigabit internet to your neighborhood.

All of this is only a piece of what you’ll find at this year’s OHE. We look forward to seeing you very soon on November 4th, for First Friday’s Open House Extravaganza 6.0!

An eagle watches the Loma Fire

September 26th in Santa Cruz was unseasonably hot. Fire weather.

At about 2:45 pm, one of our ham radio enthusiasts emailed us: “Fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains… Just a quarter acre, someone’s trailer caught fire,” he told us.

In an hour the fire had spread to 200 acres. Local TV news streamed a live feed, which we tweeted: a helicopter circling Loma Prieta mountain, watching the fire race uphill.

Small planes from Cal Fire dumped loads of flame retardant on a mountain covered with dry, brittle trees and brush. At first, Cruzio staff watched like anyone else would watch, worrying about the people, pets and animals who might be affected. But it got more personal as the hours passed.

2:48 pm, from Cruzio’s camera, we’re seeing nearby smoke

A telecommunications facility, used by many companies including Cruzio, sits on top of Loma Prieta. We serve some fiber-to-wireless customers from that site, and it’s an important backup to our fiber connections, protecting our network from outages. We’ve spent years acquiring and deploying expensive equipment there.

Starting at about 2:45 pm, we watched live TV footage of the fire approaching the bunker-like buildings and steel tower housing our equipment.

2:48 pm, a TV helicopter’s view of Loma

Cruzio has security cameras up there — we mostly use them to monitor weather, so we can make sure snow and ice don’t interfere with equipment in winter. The cameras can be swiveled, zoomed and aimed remotely, so we can see all around. Often, one of our technicians will spot mountain lions or eagles close to the buildings and they’ll email out screen shots. We love the cameras.

By 3:30 pm, our security cameras were picking up nearby flames.

3:42 pm, from Cruzio’s camera, the edge of the fire moving up the mountain

At Cruzio headquarters, we anxiously watched the live video. We hoped the fire would miss our facility. Winds were blowing away from the buildings — we could see embers blowing away from the camera. But the situation changed by the minute.

As we swiveled the camera, we saw fire in dozens of spots burning just down the hill.

If fire had engulfed the mountaintop facility, and burned the bunkers down, our equipment would have been destroyed. But the site is prepared for fire, with a wide dirt clearance, paved perimeter road and concrete buildings. And once we saw the fire moving south, we were relieved that the fire wouldn’t destroy our equipment. Now we worried about electricity.  Continue Reading: Night One

Cruzio and the Loma Fire: Night One

Loma Fire from Cruzio’s security cameras, 8:36 pm

Cruzio staff were glued to our video, watching the Loma Fire burn close to our hilltop equipment for hours. By early evening, the tall flames were very near our buildings, but luckily never crossed the paved perimeter.

They came awfully close, though. As we swiveled and zoomed our camera remotely, this is what we saw:

Loma fire from Cruzio security camera, 8:24 pm

Loma Fire from Cruzio security camera, 8:11 pm

At about 6 pm, PG&E had cut power for safety reasons. You don’t want live electrical wires on burning poles.

How We Prepare for Emergencies Like the Loma Fire

Now back a step, to Cruzio’s long years of planning. In 2009, when we started using mountaintop facilities, we had limited power backup at those sites. When there was a problem with power — which happens more often than you’d like, — we’d have to rush up to fix the situation.

One of Cruzio’s principles of operation is that we must do absolutely all we can to provide 24/7 service without fail. Plus, we hate going up to mountains in bad weather, in the middle of a freezing night.

So Cruzio has invested heavily in long-lasting power backups for mountaintops.

Now, we have backup batteries rated to last 24 hours. We refresh our batteries on a regular schedule every year so they are always in good shape. We regularly test our generators and monitor our power equipment. Our teams drill for emergencies and every member of our staff is ready to help. It all comes in handy at a time like this.

Those powerful batteries meant we maintained service all night while the fire blazed around the hilltop. The batteries also kept the cameras going so we continued to watch, transfixed, throughout the evening.

But after a day, we knew our batteries would run down. We needed to get up the mountain with a generator to recharge them — PG&E was estimating a whole week before power was restored.

We kept watching until late at night. Even though the fire had passed us, Cal Fire said there was no way we could get to our site until late morning. So our Field Operations staff prepared to go up first thing the next day.
Continue Reading: Day Two

In the morning on September 27th, Field Operations Manager Alison Lowenthal, engineer Colin Miller, and our new apprentices, Cameron Langston and Rafferty Lincoln, headed up in the truck to see if we could get to the mountaintop where fire had threatened. It was Cameron’s first day at work — what a first day. Ralph Silveira, one of our top field staff, drove out, too, but had to head home with a flat tire. Over 2,000 acres were now burning, but the fire had moved south of our site, so we were hoping to reach our equipment.

Trying to get to Cruzio’s gear, but not yet allowed up, September 27th

The mountain facility doesn’t have a permanent generator, so we have to bring our own when power is down. Usually we have enough battery power to last out any outage, but in this case the power could be down for many days, PG&E said. Over a dozen nearby utility poles had burnt or fallen or both.

Cruzio needed to get the generator running to recharge the batteries before they ran out of juice.

Emergency personnel stopped our team partway up the winding mountain road. “Not safe yet.” We know there are two entrances to the site — and our customers are depending on us — so the crew drove down the mountain, onto Highway 17, and tried going in the north entrance, opposite where the fire was burning. Chris Frost, our Director of Technology and Infrastructure, coordinated with Cal Fire to determine the safest way up the mountain.

They stopped at Tomita Hill, where they took this photo of Loma:

Loma Fire September 27th

The unpaved roads on that side are even more winding. Once again Field Ops were stopped by Cal Fire staff, who told them “But if you go back around the other entrance, maybe you can get in that way.” So they drove all the way back down to 17, and back up again to where they’d started. Then they waited at the road block for a few hours.

Cruzio’s Colin Miller (center, in white tee shirt) at the road block

Delay was pushing the limits of our equipment. Back at Cruzio, we were watching (on internet monitors) as the power supplies drained away.

Mark Hanford, our Chief Systems Engineer, was re-routing all the customers he could away from Loma Prieta. Networks have some amount of flexibility — that’s why every site is important, and redundancy is crucial — so Mark was reconfiguring the network to route around the emergency. In a short time, he had moved almost all our customers away from the problem.

Then we waited to see if the power would go down before our crew could get in.

One side of the mountain was burned to ash

At 5:30 pm, half an hour was left on the battery. Time ticked away. 15 minutes. 10. At 6 pm, Mark said “Okay. Power can go off any second now.” Our team was still waiting at the Cal Fire stop, waiting for entry. Capacity on the batteries went to zero.

But miraculously our power didn’t go out. The batteries kept running. They kept going past their expected charge. Mark stayed at the office, waiting for the power to go off so he could check on his emergency network routing. 7 pm. 8 pm. The batteries didn’t die. Our guys were waiting on the mountain. 8:30 pm.

Finally, the batteries were out at 8:50. They had run on “empty” for two and half hours!

Then, just after battery power went out, we got word: Cal Fire was escorting Cruzio’s team up the hill in a convoy of fire and water trucks, and onto our site. It was stop-and-go all the way up the mountain as the fire was hard to work around. Although diminished at that time, some flames were only feet away from the vehicles.

“We could hear the fire like a jet engine,” recounted Colin Miller, “You could see the embers flying into the trees [near] where the vehicles were.” It was clear, though, that the fire was moving away and our team made it up the mountain safely.

It only takes 5 minutes to power up the generator. Our crew had it going in no time. Then they took turns watching all night, and sleeping in shifts, to make sure everything ran smoothly.

Up there on the tower, above the smoke the air was clear. After a long day of braving the smoky air and fire, Field Ops took the opportunity to end the night with some stargazing. Alison Lowenthal summarized the day: “It’s intense, but it’s actually a lot of fun. I love being up on Loma.”
Continue Reading: The Aftermath