Let me see if I can ask our question another way-- Our goal is to provide free wireless access to residential neighborhoods in San Diego (and hopefully provide a model for other cities). Our first "node" was easy-- we ran a DSL line (with the blessing of our ISP, Speakeasy) to a nice omni antenna on the roof and let the neighborhood play. To expand the network, we went to another nearby rooftop and used a combination of an ethernet bridge feeding directly to an additional AP. We followed this pattern for a few more locations with several other locations on the drawing board. (Think hub and spoke).
Sounds great, right? Well, the problem isn't the client access method (802.11b to the clients). The problem is the backhaul (in our case, also 802.11b). Given the enormous "clutter" in the 2.4GHz band, we're finding it increasingly difficult to build reliable links between our rooftops. What next? We're aware of many commercially available solutions-- Alvarion, Motorola (Canopy), Trango and many others produce quality products that work well in enterprise deployments. Unfortunately, our primary consideration is *cost*. Oh, and also, we're geeks, so um... we like to build stuff (long live Soekris!) :-) On the other hand, we're also concerned about reliability (a solution that costs 5 dollars, but needs to be rebooted every 15 minutes doesn't help us much either). Collectively, we're asking for creative ideas for backhaul options. What works? What doesn't? What can we learn from each other? We are considering: - Alternate polarization for our backhaul antennas (horizontal? circular?) - Using 802.11a or other 5GHz options - Using 802.11b, but adding amps and "blasting through" - Using FHSS systems in 2.4GHz (such as breezenet pro.11 or raylink) - WiMax (down the road?) Any thoughts? Ideas? BTW- Mike and I will be at the Broadband Wireless World (San Diego) conference tomorrow... If you happen to be attending, please contact me offlist and maybe we can meet up? :-) Thanks, -Lee San Diego Wireless Users Group http://www.sdwug.org http://www.socalfreenet.org -- general wireless list, a bawug thing <http://www.bawug.org/> [un]subscribe: http://lists.bawug.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless
