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Rural Area Network

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I’m looking into setting up a wireless network for a small town and was wondering if anyone had any good resources/info for something like this. I’d probably be using a T-1 and sharing it throughout the town. Specific hardware, antenna’s, etc. would be much appreciated. Any wireless management software would be great too. I haven’t decided if this will turn into a tiny WISP or not so having the potential to charge a small fee for the equipment and T-1 would be a great option. Depending on the difficulty, I’d also like to link up a couple of other small towns as well, but distance limitations escape me at the moment. Any info would be great. Thanks.

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Reply To: Rural Area Network

In reply to Rural Area Network

The ISP in my town is based primarily on ORiNOCO devices originally from Lucent, then Agere, now Proxim last I checked. We have access points (AP-1000/2000) scattered around town, and clusters of APs are connected by Outdoor Routers. The APs seem to provide fairly good signal coverage for a 1 to 2 mile range using simple rooftop antennas, though I use an 18dBi beam which allows me to hit an AP 6 miles away. I’m not sure of the range for the ORs, as I haven’t seen a map of the network since the early days, but I believe they’re spaced up to 10 miles apart or so. These form point-to-point backbones between areas served by APs – our town is spread out quite a bit with clusters of development separated by large empty areas.

The wireless portion of the network is mostly on the east side of the Colorado River, while the main office is across the river. There it connects to a T1 into Las Vegas. Local links are rated a nominal 2Mbps, though they run 11Mbps most of the time, but since all traffic eventually feeds into the T1 the average rate is more like 800kbps, dropping to about 500bps during peak periods of use.

The equipment comes with management software that is easy to set up and use. Each client has to install a wireless card (Silver card or Gold Card) and a rooftop antenna. In our network each customer is required to purchase the client parts, at cost, for about $175. The monthly rate for unlimited use is $28, quite a bargain compared to $70 for DSL or cable! The one caveat I’d mention is foliage – trees look like bright shiny mirrors when the sap rises in spring, and can block the signals in areas with lots of vegetation. We’re in the desert here, so there’s little problem, but some people who have planted large trees in the yard can’t use the service. Buy a laptop with a wireless card and do a site survey for signal strength before you promise service to anyone.

Reply To: Rural Area Network

In reply to Rural Area Network

What equipment comes with management software? Can the subscribers use a firewall or router to setup home networking? Are the IP’s private or public? Does everyone that subscribes have to use a Orinoco based network card/adapter? Thanks.

Reply To: Rural Area Network

In reply to Rural Area Network

Hi,

There are several OEMs in the market supplying wireless products for such requrement. Some of them are:

1. Cisco- Aironet
2. Wi-LAN
3. Linksys
4. MicroTik
5. 3Com
6. D-Link
7. Flarion

See if you can find any of them suitable to your requirement. If u need any more information, please feel free to revert back.

ALL THE BEST…

Raags

[Author]

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