I was a WISP in the late 90s and early 00s. Some of you may know
me. It's good to see many familiar faces still here. In recent
years, I have pursued new interests but I keep thinking back on my
experiences as a WISP. I had a lot of good times back then. I'm
thinking about creeping back into the WISP business.
After I sold in 2004, I followed a new trend in wireless in the press
called "muni wireless" promoted by manufacturers such as Strix and
Tropos. This concept has taken some major blows in the press this month:
<http://wifinetnews.com/archives/007869.html>http://wifinetnews.com/archives/007869.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20521155/
<http://web20.telecomtv.com/pages/?newsid=41788&id=e9381817-0593-417a-8639-c4c53e2a2a10&view=news>http://web20.telecomtv.com/pages/?ne...2a10&view=news
http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp...ng_sitedefault
<http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/08/as-earthlink-el.html>http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/08/...thlink-el.html
http://www.computerworld.com/blogs/node/6120
This hits close to home because the company who bought my WISP
(ShreveNet) boasted being the largest WISP with the largest muni WIFI
network in the nation in Tempe AZ (NeoReach aka Kite aka MobilePro)
which sold these properties recently to Gobility. (Big Yawn)..
<http://www.bbwexchange.com/wireless_isp/>http://www.bbwexchange.com/wireless_isp/
I'm certainly am not posting this thread to defend or even discuss
the somewhat failed muni wireless concept. Some say it was a failure
because of the model rather than technology, caused by giving away
free service to the anchor tenant (the city) and so
forth. Whatever... I couldn't care less about the past or Earthlink
or Google, or MobilePro or huge muni wifi networks.
However I am fascinated by the mesh technology in general, especially
after witnessing the old Nokia "collapsible" bridged mesh networks of
the 90s. LOL, a lot has changed since then. I often wonder how Dave
Peterson and Ultramesh/locustworld turned out. Once upon a time, he
sold product to a WISP near me in Vivian LA to build the first mesh
network in the US. He ended up with some heavy debt. Also I knew of
a WISP in Leesville LA using Wave Wireless (Speedcom) mesh gear with
pretty good technical results, that is, for a single radio
system. I'm thinking more along the lines of multiple radio systems.
I am brainstorming a new WISP model and I am seeking feedback and
advice. The concept goes something like this. The muni network
model touted in the press had many flaws as I see it. Coming into an
urban market after DSL and Cable has to be a steep uphill climb. Yet
in 2007 there are still rural areas with no high speed solution in
sight, particularly in the wooded Southeast where the old wireless
models don't always work. I posted the following statistics to the
wireless boards nearly a decade ago as the results of my first 2.4GHz network.
In my area (Shreveport LA) 65 out of 100 business surveys came back
positive (35 negative) for LOS. This was made possible by multistory
buildings and large parking lots (lack of trees) Yet for residential
service, only 5 came back positive while 95 came back
negative. Clearly there is a tree issue in many residential parts of
the country. This is the market that has few if any options as many
keep hoping for DSL and cablemodem. Chainsaw jokes grow old fast around here.
Traditionally the tools for Foliar NLOS have been (a) the use of low
frequency spectrum to penetrate through the offending object, and (b)
route around the offending object by hopping around it, (c) increase
the power to try and punch through the offending objects. Add to
these maybe OFDM to use multipath interference to our advantage but I
see that as an Urban solution (reflections off buildings) more than a
foliar solution (reflections off trees) The 700mw SR9 combined with
a cheap SBCs and appropriate TCP routing protocols appears to go a
long way to make new things possible.
Please imagine a muni wireless mesh network that utilizes 900MHz
cards instead of 5.8 and 2.4 cards. Instead of nodes being 1000 feet
apart atop light poles, they are now spread 1 or 2 miles
apart. Instead of it taking 15 or 20 nodes to cover one square mile,
perhaps one node could cover 1 to 4 square miles. Could this be a
solution for wooded areas with low to moderate population
densities? In other words, do you know anyone who has ever built a
mesh network using SR9s and SBCs with multiple radios to achieve
redundancy and ubiquitous coverage for small towns in the
Southeast? And using no towers by the way, LOL? As I see it, the
SR9 has 4 non-overlapping channels at 5MHz each. Thats all I need. (I think)
No hub and spoke POPs off towers, please. Been there done that. I
don't think I could take that anymore. I'm not a climber and don't
wish to hire any climbers unless it is for aggregate backhaul PtP
which is fine. This post has nothing to do with PtP shots. But any
thoughts or feedback on 900MHz meshing is appreciated. I do see a
few problems with this concept, however I am at the stage where I
think some feedback might be helpful. I'm hoping some of you
followed the muni wireless trend and gear from Strix, Tropos, Belair,
etc. Not all their ideas were wrong or bad.
One last question or two if I may. Is there only one manufacturer of
900MHz mini-pci cards? (Ubiquiti SR9) Also, do you think it is it too
late in 2007 to start a WISP? ;) Last, would 700MHz system
eventually creep in over a few years and eat my lunch?
Thank you all and as always, good luck to all WISPs!
Best Regards,
Allen Marsalis
am @ bandwise dot com
P.S. After all these years, I still cringe when lightning strikes
and I think of you guys all the time. :) It is certainly good to
see the WISP industry moving along and so many familiar names still
in the business. I wish you all continued success!
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