Alright so a decision has been made on that long run of cat 5. The main run of cable is down what we are calling "center street". Which runs east and west. Each side of each block has between 2 and 6 lots.
There are 4 streets with 4 corners each for a total of 16 corners At each corner we will be digging up the cat 5, splicing it with ends and tying it into a router of some sort. Thus we will need 16 routers. Each router will service the homes on the block it is on, and we are considering some way of failing over from 1 router to another in the event one fails (there will be network monitoring going on). The maximum run length will now be 75 meters. The question then is what is a good router/switch (up to a max of 8 ports needed), to put in these outdoor enclosure boxes. The environment is coastal and there is a LOT of rain, but no other weather to speak of and the temperature is warm but not hot, 70-85f year round. I've already explained that there will probably need to be a hardware refresh every 2 to 5 years, and that they should purchase 20 routers total. The budget for the hardware needs to stay below $10kUSD. Any suggestions? Oh by the way, I mentioned fiber to the curb for the next phase of development and they are all for it. The local telco switch is about 1Km away and I got an average bid of $1/meter to string the fiber assuming we can get the incumbent telco to let us colo some equipment there. I guess they like the idea of a UTOPIA like system out here in rural Ecuador. /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
