[lug] Broadband in Eastern/Rural Boulder County?

[Ryan Kirkpatrick]

On Wed, 16 Jul 2008, Nate Duehr wrote:

> David Morris wrote:
> 
> > If latency isn't an issue, a satellite internet connection
> > is always available:  two-way and download-only.  The later
> > uses a phone line for the return link, and decreases latency
> > significantly so long as you have virtually no uploading to
> > do.  No clue on current cost, providers, or bandwidth.
> 
> www.wildblue.com - best out there for residential purposes, and another 
> Colorado company.

Thanks for the reference, they look much better than Hughes. The issues
with satellite is equipment costs and latency. Looking at WildBlue and
Sprint, they appear about a tie (features & cost), with the latter winning
on mobility. 

> 900 MHz, 5.3 GHz, and 5.8 GHz unlicensed microwave gear (the same stuff 
> that Wispertel and Mesa Networks buy) *is* available to the general 
> public.
> 
> With some help from someone knowledgeable, a rock-solid RF link can be 
> done for just the cost of equipment to just about anywhere "nearby" 
> another location that has Internet access and is line-of-sight away.

Hmm... Could run a T1 to a central site, setup an antenna, and then beam
it where needed to cover my parents and more. Sounds like a lot of fun,
and a lot of time, money, and hair pulling. :) I have enough "jobs"
already, don't need to add another one!

As for WiFi to the neighbor with ADSL, it would be in range given a
pringles can or so. But their speed is already pretty slow, so sharing
that would result little better than IDSL for both. In other words, I
don't see it as worth the trouble.

For the routing from a cellular card to a local network, I know how to do
the Linux firewall and router. At my house I have a Sangoma Wanpipe ADSL
PCI card in a Linux box with Ethernet cards for firewalling and routing
between the Internet, an internal network, and an external DMZ for hosting
servers on static IPs. The element that is unfamiliar to me is getting
Linux to talk to cellular card, especially via USB. Though it does look
like Sierra has Linux drivers and Sprint has Linux specific documentation.
And I can activate the card on a Mac.

I am thinking of getting one of the PC Engines ALIX boards
(www.mini-box.com) that have a fanless LX800 processor, CF card slot, and
USB plus a few network interfaces. I got one of them for another company
as a simple Ethernet (from T1 interface box) to Ethernet (internal LAN)  
router/firewall and it works great. It would be a bit cheaper than the
cellular capable routers, and I would have full control of the router,
adding VPNs and what ever else I want.

> ... and you have to be willing to be the "free tech support guy",
> something most folks capable of building such a network have no time
> for... Catch 22.

Indeed! Just mentioning at work about this quest resulted in having to
help a co-worker figure out why his WiFi shared DSL with a neighbor had
stopped working. It is dangerous to show that you know how computers and
networks work! :)

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|   "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."                    |
|                                            --- Philippians 1:21 (KJV)   |
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|   Ryan Kirkpatrick  |  Boulder, Colorado  |  http://www.rkirkpat.net/   |
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