Re:'Anti-authority' tech rebels take on ISPs, connect NYC wi...
by notyourday on Wednesday May 02, 2018 @04:42PM
(#16980969)
No, this tech is not in early stages. This tech has been around for years. We have been running this stuff between building since mid nineties. The cards were called "wireless T1" and they were full size ISA cards. It was pre-DSL days. I had a T1 terminating on 4th floor of a brownstone and a couple of my friend who lived across the street got connectivity from me using those cards because Linux supported them. No one else on a street had anything other than a dial up. Eventually we ran Ethernet to the other neighbors because we did not need to run across the street and those neighbors agreed to share a cost of the circuit.
The reason why I'm negative about it is that it gives people incorrect perception. The perception is that my neighbor does not need to pay Optimum or Time Warner or Verizon for internet and he or she can watch Netflix. And that's simply not the case because as soon as five of my neighbors get this WiFi chokes because in a regular Brooklyn block it is going to add another 40-50 wifi access points. Negative perception from folks who own their houses is a death to community ISPs.
This kind of wireless is not a solution. A solution is to wire as much as possible, including wiring between the buildings of my neighbors who own their houses and if needed terminating a single high bandwidth wireless or fiber link into a node that carries entire block.
P.S. I reached out to these guys about a year ago offering to help them when I read another piece written about them. Maybe it even was on HN. I did not get any response.
The reason why I'm negative about it is that it gives people incorrect perception. The perception is that my neighbor does not need to pay Optimum or Time Warner or Verizon for internet and he or she can watch Netflix. And that's simply not the case because as soon as five of my neighbors get this WiFi chokes because in a regular Brooklyn block it is going to add another 40-50 wifi access points. Negative perception from folks who own their houses is a death to community ISPs.
This kind of wireless is not a solution. A solution is to wire as much as possible, including wiring between the buildings of my neighbors who own their houses and if needed terminating a single high bandwidth wireless or fiber link into a node that carries entire block.
P.S. I reached out to these guys about a year ago offering to help them when I read another piece written about them. Maybe it even was on HN. I did not get any response.