Wow, what a pleasant surprise. Glad to hear from you!
Thinkin of gettin back into WISP stuff... What are you crazy :-)
Are you a glutton for punishment :-)
No seriously, this is still an existing industry, just a lot of new
competitions and stragegies necessary to survive.
On the 900 Mesh... The first thing to realize is that no business model is
predictable and guaranteed re-createable in the 900Mhz world.
Expecially not In-Town. Don't get me wrong, we use 900Mhz all the time, its
a savior. Its jsut near impossible to predict in advance where it will work,
due to noise in the environment. A couple over zealous Paging companies and
Scada guys in town can bring the noise floor down to -50dn making any 900Mhz
system unusable, and rarely OFDM product can get large enough SNR to get
higher speeds in suburbia.
But in those Tree (foliage) rick environments, 900Mhz is golden. And with
new Multi-Port Mainboards, taking a chance to add a 900Mhz relay option in
an existing system is just a bit over $100 more or so.
As for MESH, I'm not a fan of any of the MESH software out there. I still
do everything static or with common well know routing protocols. But a value
proposition that is undenyable are systems that enable multiple radio cards
for very little money, because it removes the cost of an AP to relay service
on.
Its now cost effective to make a subscriber a broadcaster.
Tom DeReggi
RapidDSL & Wireless, Inc
IntAirNet- Fixed Wireless Broadband
----- Original Message -----
From: "Allen Marsalis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <wireless@wispa.org>
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 12:16 PM
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/archives/007869.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20521155/
<http://web20.telecomtv.com/pages/?newsid=41788&id=e9381817-0593-417a-8639-c4c53e2a2a10&view=news>http://web20.telecomtv.com/pages/?ne...2a10&view=news
http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp...ng_sitedefault
<http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/08/as-earthlink-el.html>http://www.alleyinsider.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/wireless_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!
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** Join us at the WISPA Reception at 6:30 PM on October the 16th 2007 at ISPCON
**
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** 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 **
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