Broadband dilemma

oscarBravo

I'm in a quandary here.

Living, as I do, in a rural area that will get DSL sometime shortly after hell freezes over (ISDN has been ruled out indefinitely), I have been sounding out other members of the community for an IrishWAN-type approach to getting affordable access. Possibilities include getting DSL from EsatBT in Ballina and bouncing it via someone halfway in between, or getting a 2-way VSAT setup.

The problem is, it would be fairly pricey to set up initially, what with all the 802.11 hardware involved. I'd hate to be up and running for a couple of months and then find that telcos are queueing up to offer wireless broadband to all and sundry.

Anyone care to speculate on the likely availability of wireless broadband at realistic prices in the next couple of years? Should I press on with the WAN plans? Bear in mind, it's not an academic exercise here. Although it's non-profit, it still amounts to a commercial venture.

BigEejit

Hmmm .. there are a lot of people who have looked at this post and moved on without posting ... but this is the kind of issue that large portions of the Irish population need to know about ... I know that where I come from there will be no isdn/dsl for years .. wireless is the only option, but no-one will answer a question about it or do anything with licenses that they got for it .. I know that some licenses were taken back by the ODTR but what will become of them?? .. will some company step up and promise to give broadband to smaller communities that dont interest the big boys?? ..

On a side note ... oscarBravo.. did you do any pricing on the local network stuff?(excluding the feed from the internet connection)
I was asked in the pub how much would a small network of 10 users (10 differnet locations) using 802.11b gear (i.e. all users with 3km of each other with good los) .. and to tell the truth I know nothing about the ins and outs of setting up a wireless network

jbkenn

The cost of setting up a 10 user wireless network would break down as follows

Access Point approx €1000
Each Node €300
512k DSL Internet Access from EsatBT (Uncapped)
Installation €152
Quarterly €326.70

for more info look here

www.midwestwan.org

jbkenn

spongebob

The community WAN will be a feature of large rural parishes served by the one exchange for a long time IMO

There is the possibilty that the Telcos will look at Mesh Radio but an equal likelihood that we in rural Ireland will simply have to update the concept of the Co-Operative group water scheme and to apply it to data.

Mesh radio is similar to 802.11 wireless except that each node is an Access Point/Node hybrid.

BT are trialling it in rural Wales, see Here with the initial system covering 80SqKm . The ODTR has indicated that it is going to take a benevolent viewpoint on a slab of frequency above that for 802.11a @ c. 5.8/5.9Ghz . See various docs on spectrum manangement from 2002 on their site.

You may also want to see some recent posts by Yellum on the activities of the FCC in the US who are inclining towards major reform of the Wireless spectra with a view to letting the public do their own thing. See what they say about Mesh Here 1.3Mb PDF.

Classic 802.11b is a reasonable interim technology but will not be technologically compatible with mesh from what I can see...maybe the aerials will be but dunno

The CO-OP provisioning model will apply equally to both 802.11Wireless and Mesh when it comes out.....the concept of sharing a DSL by wireless will be equally applicable.

JBKENN has told you what you need. The Midwest Wan he refers to may be found lurking over on the Irishwan boards as well as their own.

M

DonegalMan

Originally posted by oscarBravo
I'm in a quandary here.

Paul

I don't know that this will be any help to you to but I have been in similar quandry recently.

With recent Esat developments, I have gut feeling that broadband of some kind will be available in Letterkenny in the not too distant future, it could be as little as 3-4 months but possibly could be far longer.

I can't wait any longer, my business desperately needs an always on connection with static IP address so I've bitten the bullet and gone with 2 way satellite.

It's not an ideal solution but it's workable.

If broadband became available in Letterkenny in a few months I would effectively be writing off about €2-3K investment but delays in implementing our sysytem could cost us a lot more so I've decided to minimise risk.

As I said, probaly not a lot of use to you other than knowing that someone else shares your pain

Martin Harran

oscarBravo

Thanks all for replies.

I've lurked on IrishWAN for a while, even participated occasionally. It definitely looks feasible.

Martin, I understand your position, and if this was a business proposition per se, I have no doubt I would have gone for it by now. The situation I want to avoid is disgruntled neighbours paying off an investment in wireless kit while others get cheaper commercial broadband.

Interestingly, Chorus have at least let me know that they have no immediate plans to roll out in Mayo. Useful to know.