Hi Stan and thanks for the questions. On Tuesday 18 August 2009, Stanley Brinkerhoff wrote: > Rion, > > How do successful *community wireless* projects fair compared to *community > fiber* projects? I don't really know altho I've come across (and bookmarked) some (kinda DIY) projects including a recent story about GMRS radio system (http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/08/17/0014235) that entail collectively sharing costs. But I don't really know enough (in my research) about equipment and last mile always seems to be the kicker. I have maintained focus on wireless (double-play) services simply because it can be integrated into fiber (backhauls and drops that aren't DSS based) and already has significant experience being deployed.
> For either scenario, how does one acquire enough bandwidth
> to try to compete with the likes of Comcast (16mb?/2mb?), or Fairizon (1.5mb
> dsl?) without costing twice as much without factoring in infrastructure or
> human resource costs?
I won't or can't speak of human resource costs until a model is finalized,
which would be based on
collective inputs. But your question is somewhat self-answering: There are too
many community-based mesh-networks
already in existence across the globe and here nationally to argue that they
can compete with commercial offerings.
The difference may be one of value proposition more than speed alone.
My understanding is that speed on the mesh is not an issue, its adequate for
VOIP and all /etc/services. If that is true,
then its the speed/bandwidth of the drops and how it's paid for (which I think
is your question).
As David said, having a godfather helps, having many members who already have
DSL or some other connection and
sharing it helps, rigging up some home made stuff might help too.
> (It looks like the cheapest 15mb frac T3 into
> Montpelier would cost me $3k/m, thats 50 customers at $60/m. Splitting 15mb
> 50 ways isn't horrible... but you would probably need more like 75-100 users
> on that 15mb pipe to even make is self sutaining.
I'd hope to have more than that, AND I'd hope to have the mesh-net be appealing
enough to find a majority of
users use it for local purposes (stay w/in the mesh). But I believe (strongly)
that there has to be and are creative ways to
generate revenue above and beyond simple subscription. It's just that I'm a
geek more than a 'creative' person to get a hook into the
best marketing angles.
For a simple instance, what if local merchants paid (on honor system perhaps) a
10% kickback for all sales that came through the mesh?
Think about the tourism and the ability to make reservations/sales. Think about
muni contributions resulting from mobile
device usage, or utility companies, or whomever. Like I stated before:
If other places can find a way I don't see why Stowe cannot. And if Stowe can
do it I'd bet that any small rural village
can as well.
>
> Thoughts?
My point of argument is that it is not in the interests of commercial ISP's to
offer this kind of thing. Their profit model
is tied too closely to a 1:1 relationship with their clients and the regulation
of their bandwidth (no offense Dave).
Taking the profit motive (but NOT the revenue motive) out of the equation makes
the fruit hang lower. That's not to say
that a public/private arrangement cannot work, but that the private part has to
have a revenue generating model that goes
beyond just providing the pipe.
>
> Stan
--
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by oldspewey (1303305) Alter Relationship on Wednesday June 17, @10:27AM
(#28361297)
I will give you $100 if you can provide instructions on implementing this that
can be understood by all my friends and family ... and that includes my elderly
relatives and my "but this is how it come when I bought the computer" friends.
--
Reply to This
Re:SMIME (Score:5, Funny)
by MyLongNickName (822545) Alter Relationship on Wednesday June 17,
@10:38AM (#28361399) Journal
Easy
Step 1. Call your friend, oldspewey and have him install and configure it
for you.
He LOVES helping his friends out for free.
Step 2. Just give him a piece of pizza when he is done. It is the only
thanks he needs.
Step 3. If anything goes wrong with your PC just call him up and bitch.
It is obviously something he did to break your computer.
Now where is my $100?
--
o Re:SMIME (Score:5, Insightful)
by oldspewey (1303305) Alter Relationship on Wednesday June 17,
@11:20AM (#28361909)
Ahhh, a page from the book of "it's funny because it's true."
I used to be "that guy" ... giving advice, offering to help people
configure things,
recommending hardware and software, etc. Then I slowly came to
realize a few things:
- People don't value the time you spend helping them
- The more dire the warning being delivered, the more people resent
hearing your advice
- Nothing ever sinks in. By constantly offering to help people, all
that happens is they develop
a mindset of dependence. They sort of slide into the belief
that computers are so hopelessly
complex they will never be able to figure anything out.
I now just quietly accept the notion that most of my friends and
family are riddled with trojans,
and I assume that anything I send to them is also being sent to
a criminal syndicate in Bulgaria.
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