Topic awaiting preservation: Wi-Fi Venture (Page 1 of 1)

I've been reading a lot of information about Wi-Fi technology and initially I was considering looking into buying a base and client card when I checked to see how widely supported 802.11g and realized it wasn't. So that got me thinking into starting my own wireless ISP venture. I'm not looking into some multi-billion Microsoft-esqe company but rather a small company that could offer fast and secure internet to the business district surrounding me. The business area is in need of some sort of broadband connection badly. DSL and cable still hasn't reached the area.

I've found plenty of information on assembling the network but what I can't find any information on is how to directly connect to the internet. What I mean is how do ISPs such as AOL and Earthlink connect to the internet? How does this work and roughly how expensive will this be?

I realize this is just a dream and probably will never happen but I'd appreciate anyone willing to share some insight.

Jestah

FWIW, I've been reading http://www.amazing.com/isp/hooking-up.html .

I guess what it is I'm looking for is a backbone ISP to buy a T3 connection from, correct?

Jestah

[This message has been edited by Jestah (edited 04-20-2003).]

yeah, something like that would do the job.

.11g is the 55 mbit (netto) one, right?
You should also be aware, that all your users share those 55 mbit of airspace... so it's not gonna be super fast, just fast.
Still, a T3 (that was 1.5Mbit, right) would be kind of slow ;-)... see what you can get for a reasonable price, but about half a T1 (45 mbit (brutto) / 2) should be able
to support enough traffic for todays wireless technology.
You'll also probably pay by the GB, so I suppose you could also bill your customers by this... You'll need some kind of accounting though.
Then, all you need is a decent router (any linux box should be able to handle that much traffic) to route from the wlan to the Tx.

so long,

Tyberius Prime

TP - You probably know more about this then me, but I've been under the impression that the T3 was the faster of the two connections at 45Mbit per second compared to the T1's 1.5Mbit. Am I wrong in thinking this?

Jestah

I think TB got his numbers reversed. If you want to find out more about WiFi, take a look at what my neighbours are doing in the town "up the road" ... http://www.wirelessleiden.nl/indexuk.html ...


Bug-free software only exisits in two places
A programmer's mind and a salesman's lips

yes, I keep mixem them up... that's why I put the data rate in parentheses behind it.

You'll need:
-Upstream provider and uplinking line (probably from the local telco)
-Routing box that also does accounting
-Possibly multiple wired access points to reach all of the target area
-Customers
-Billing software/facilities
-Some poor guy doing tech support (yuck)


The security part might also be a problem... at least the WEP standard is easily crackable... you'll have to dig into that to find a working solution for your customers that will be safe. And it will make tech support more troublesome.

so long,

Tyberius Prime

.11g is really shaky. There's no real standards on it yet like the other two so the 55mbit thing isnt exactly true. I've heard something like 20mbits is realistic for it.

Thanks for all the great information guys.

I'm still researching all of this but it seems like an interesting idea. trib, do you happen to know any of those involved personally? I'd be very willing to get some information from them but I only speak English. Would there be anyway you could translate an email for me?

Also, is it possible (er available) to carry cell phone signals on the frequency? I'm looking to offer businesses and homes a total communications package with phone and internet service. Are there cell phones out on the market that are capable of doing this?

Jestah

[This message has been edited by Jestah (edited 04-21-2003).]

don't think so about the cell phones.
Anyhow, you'd want them to have their own frequency and not steal it from the network ;-).
You could also consider using umts... although the backend part will probably be freakingly expensive.


edit:
Cicso has just announced a wlan cell phone (7920 is what they call it), due to be released coming june. a bit late... and it's supposed to use .11b. No price yet either.

[This message has been edited by Tyberius Prime (edited 04-21-2003).]

Jestah .. I'm English, but I've survived here for the past 15 years ... If you write to them in English, I'm sure they'll respond.

One thing that does strike me is that 2.4 GHz is line-of-sight comms, and you'll need to take into account a <300 yard range outdoors and < 100 yards range with walls in the way, for the WiFi cards. That mean's you'll probably need repeaters and high gain antennas dotted all over the place. That's probably one of the reasons it isn't catching on very quickly in high-rise, steel and steel reinforced places like most US city centres. Leiden is a pretty, little, low-rise, mainly brick-built, world ... easy to penetrate, and easy for people to lift antennas above the skyline ...

BTW .. the Leiden project is free - anyone can use the transport from anywhere at no cost - most people even set up their personal boxes as ad-hoc communicators so that other boxes can relay through them.

... ahhhh the white bicycles live on ...

Peace


Bug-free software only exisits in two places
A programmer's mind and a salesman's lips

Jestah: A friend out west does exactly the same thing you're thinking of. If you'd like, I can ask him to contact you.

Bruce that would be fantastic.

Thanks a lot for all the information guys.

Jestah

I just sent him a note.