>>>>> "Michael" == Michael Weinberg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Keith> I first wrote an essay about why public wifi is not likely to Keith> help with digital divide issues, and argued that if the city Keith> retains some of the Skypilots, they should be moved to outdoor Keith> event venues like Waterfront Park. Then I got a better idea. Keith> How about the Max lines? Are there enough Skypilots to cover Keith> the stations, and perhaps be placed along the routes so that Keith> the 5.8GHz backhaul could connect them? More ambitiously, Keith> could something be added to the Max cars so that wifi was Keith> usable in them, and roaming was supported, so people could use Keith> wifi while they travelled? That would be a nice amenity for MAX, but probably not within the scope of PTP's mission. Michael> As I calculate it, there are enough SkyPilots to cover 50-64 Michael> miles of track (200-250 ft coverage radius per Michael> radio). Currently there are 44 miles of track, but the new Michael> lines probably add considerably to that. Michael> I think the issues would be: Michael> a) Backhaul. The mesh is only going to support a few hops Michael> before you'll need to inject new bandwidth. I would imagine Michael> that setting up all the backhaul along the tracks is a larger Michael> hurdle than acquiring wireless gear. I presume that Trimet owns the right-of-way. They could probable string fiber on that right-of-way without immense expense. This seems like the wrong application of SkyPilots to me. The RightWay (tm) to do public transport wifi, it seems to me, is to have an access point on the vehicle to interface with the end users, and let the backhaul do all the fancy hand-off stuff. You'd want base stations along the route, probably with directional antennas directed along the track route, and a rooftop antenna on the vehicle to connect to those base stations. -- Russell Senior, Secretary [EMAIL PROTECTED] --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ The Personal Telco Project - http://www.personaltelco.net/ Donate to PTP: http://www.personaltelco.net/donate Archives: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.network.wireless.portland.general/ Etiquette: http://www.personaltelco.net/index.cgi/MailingListEtiquette List information: http://lists.personaltelco.net To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
