5 ms·

The difficulty, is that where this matters is in the "last mile" leg of the connection. Which, to do at scale, is notoriously difficult given the required capi

The difficulty, is that where this matters is in the "last mile" leg of the connection. Which, to do at scale, is notoriously difficult given the required capital expenditures, as well as navigating the regulation minefield, that the incumbents do everything in their power to keep difficult.

throwaway92438 10y ago
Is it really last _mile_? If the missing leg of the connection is truly that short, could there be an opportunity for inexpensive cooperative wireless mesh routing in neighborhoods with several outlet nodes onto more regulation-sparse fiber? Or is 'last mile' just a euphemism for distances that in actuality are much larger?
- jasonjayr 10y ago
  Last mile is a euphemism for: * Interconnects * Customer Support * Pole Access * Physical Plant * Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) Perhaps if the FCC would designate more long-range friendly frequencies as unlicensed, perhaps with slightly higher power limits, you could eliminate a few of those items? Don't get me wrong -- there are many cooperatives very successfully running stable and competitive wireless mesh networks, but that model doesn't work very well in major metro areas, with lots of buildings, and very high-density users.
- omouse 10y ago
  This was tried in the mid to late 2000s and many of the mesh networks, at least the ones run by cities, were shut down or are much smaller now. The problem with doing things through the legal system or through government is that mesh routing can be seen as competitive to the existing oligopoly (which has more $$ to lobby government to increase barriers to entry). Sharing one beefy connection with 10-20 people in a few nearby houses would be a good first step because it's under the radar of the big telecomm companies and you can't be legally barred from sharing your connection?
- wongarsu 10y ago
  I love cooperative mesh networks, but they can't really compete on speed and latency with regular internet connections.

throwaway92438 10y ago

Is it really last _mile_? If the missing leg of the connection is truly that short, could there be an opportunity for inexpensive cooperative wireless mesh routing in neighborhoods with several outlet nodes onto more regulation-sparse fiber? Or is 'last mile' just a euphemism for distances that in actuality are much larger?

jasonjayr 10y ago
Last mile is a euphemism for: * Interconnects * Customer Support * Pole Access * Physical Plant * Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) Perhaps if the FCC would designate more long-range friendly frequencies as unlicensed, perhaps with slightly higher power limits, you could eliminate a few of those items? Don't get me wrong -- there are many cooperatives very successfully running stable and competitive wireless mesh networks, but that model doesn't work very well in major metro areas, with lots of buildings, and very high-density users.
omouse 10y ago
This was tried in the mid to late 2000s and many of the mesh networks, at least the ones run by cities, were shut down or are much smaller now. The problem with doing things through the legal system or through government is that mesh routing can be seen as competitive to the existing oligopoly (which has more $$ to lobby government to increase barriers to entry). Sharing one beefy connection with 10-20 people in a few nearby houses would be a good first step because it's under the radar of the big telecomm companies and you can't be legally barred from sharing your connection?
wongarsu 10y ago
I love cooperative mesh networks, but they can't really compete on speed and latency with regular internet connections.