Wow! Im witnessing the return of a pioneer! Welcome back
Gino A. Villarini [EMAIL PROTECTED] Aeronet Wireless Broadband Corp. tel 787.273.4143 fax 787.273.4145 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Allen Marsalis Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 12:17 PM To: wireless@wispa.org Subject: [WISPA] Thoughts on 900MHz mesh networks 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/arch ives/007869.html http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20521155/ <http://web20.telecomtv.com/pages/?newsid=41788&id=e9381817-0593-417a-86 39-c4c53e2a2a10&view=news>http://web20.telecomtv.com/pages/?ne...2a10&vi ew=news http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp...ng_sitedefault <http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/08/as-earthlink-el.html>http://www.all eyinsider.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/wir eless_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! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------- ** Join us at the WISPA Reception at 6:30 PM on October the 16th 2007 at ISPCON ** ** ISPCON Fall 2007 - October 16-18 - San Jose, CA www.ispcon.com ** ** THE INTERNET INDUSTRY EVENT ** ** FREE Exhibits and Events Pass available until August 31 ** ** Use Customer Code WSEMF7 when you register online at http://www.ispcon.com/register.php ** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------- WISPA Wants You! 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