[TriLUG] OT: solar wireless mesh router

Tue Jun 12 11:02:15 EDT 2007

..and then there's the small problem of declining bee populations due to wireless signals...who knows what a plethora of WiMax (and thousands of other RF) signals will do.

http://www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp?content_id=865

Kevin

----- Original Message ----
From: Tim Jowers <timjowers at gmail.com>
To: Triangle Linux Users Group discussion list <trilug at trilug.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 10:45:07 AM
Subject: Re: [TriLUG] OT: solar wireless mesh router

I like the idea of building the last mile and then selling access to the
access providers. Anyone know the story of the Town of Cary fiber? Way I
heard it they never lit it up.

   I'm thinking of how to prototype the system. On the other hand, if anyone
can get funding and roll it out then I'd be happy to be a customer. Here are
my requirements:
1) No sporadic 20 second delays when I browse the web like I get with TWC
2) Good download speed (1MB or better)
3) Good upload speed (1MB or better)
4) No port filtering/blocking
5) Either less than TWC's $45/month or wireless coverage I can use
throughout my house and maybe in other parts of the city.
   Don't believe the advertisements. I've worked on a T1 and on DSL and
Cable. Neither DSL nor cable comes close to the performance of a T1. Of
course, it all has to do with the upstream. Even my LAN here at a major
telco is only slightly better than TWC (no sporadic delays). The T1 also had
2000 dialup customers as well as hosted a few hundred websites including a
major syndicated TV show. Of course that was back in 1998.
    On a practical note. There are lots of 802.11 signals in my
neighborhood. WiMax'ers tend to use reserved frequencies don't they? There
is still room for an 802.11 network (until the telco lobbies the commission
to outlaw it/tax it out of existence). Here's a prototype pricing.

$400/month T1 plus equipment amortization.
20 users at $20/month. 1/2 of the price of TWC. Probably as good or better
actual performance.
Can get a T1 with a 1 year contract.

Phase 2:
T3 or better.
The overuse of a spectrum may be self-regulating for several reasons.
Some enticement may be necessary to get people to add 100ft towers in their
yards, or rent space on buildings (cost prohibitive for a low caost network
IME).
What is the cost of business T1 or business cable today?  Could be the
business customers underwrite the entire network cost.

Phase 3: Established a MAN. Now the throughput is only limited by the last
mile. Compelling to local businesses to host on the MAN rather than the
network that runs through ATL or DC just to get a web page from the business
down the road. In fact, marketable to Akamai et al to install distributed
mirrors on the MAN. Not to mention the issues of
terrorism/hackers/accident/act of God taking down an intermediate network in
a city hundreds of miles away.

TimJowers

On 6/12/07, OlsonE at aosa.army.mil <OlsonE at aosa.army.mil> wrote:
>
> "In this day and age I think that when new communities are constructed,
> fiber should be going to each house right next to the power, water, and
> sewage lines."
>
> You hit that one on the nail! Of course, it's a lot cheaper to run it
> now, than to tear up lawns to lay it later. My house is nearing
> completion in Eagle Ridge, and I'm almost positive that there's no
> fiber. However, there ARE green boxes on every block, and fiber runs to
> those (I've seen it exposed a few times and had to call it in). That
> would make it much easier to run fiber from the DSLAM (if that's what it
> is) right to your doorstep.
>
> I've been thinking ....about things along this line. Even something if
> everyone combined their wifi router, and made a cluster so to speak...
> would be mind boggling. Something along the lines of what the FatPipe
> systems do.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: trilug-bounces at trilug.org [mailto:trilug-bounces at trilug.org] On
> Behalf Of Magnus
> Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 10:10 AM
> To: Triangle Linux Users Group discussion list
> Subject: Re: [TriLUG] OT: solar wireless mesh router
>
> Tim Jowers wrote:
> >    I'm with you. I have a good rooftop (HOA withstanding) with
> > excellent coverage of about 100 homes. I live off of Lake Pine in
> > Kildaire Farm. Maybe we can find enough people to justify a T1
> > somewhere and roll this out legally. I guess the legal problems are
> > what killed boingo although I never followed them closely. What
> prototocol? 802.11n?
>
> A T1 only provides 1.54Mbps.  The cost for this is going to be hundreds
> of dollars per month.  Once you start splitting it, it's so slow by
> modern standards it can barely be called "broadband" service.
>
> Even a T3 spreads thin very quickly these days.
>
> To really make a go of it will require serious capital and a commitment
> to providing a compelling alternative to the big broadband ISP's.
>
> I believe the model for the future is not to own both the last mile
> network and the internet connection at the same time.  Establish a very
> fast last-mile network, and allow ISP's to offer exit points from it.
> The last mile network should not have exclusive arrangements with ISP's.
>
> In this day and age I think that when new communities are constructed,
> fiber should be going to each house right next to the power, water, and
> sewage lines.
>
> Allowing the ISP to own the last mile is stifling competition.  The two
> services need to be divorced before we will see major leaps forward.
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