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Just a side note while I was reminiscing about the pain of being an ISP. Here's a couple photos of the tower for this project. I got frustrated with satellite i

by sbr464 8y ago

Just a side note while I was reminiscing about the pain of being an ISP. Here's a couple photos of the tower for this project. I got frustrated with satellite internet, and bought a 140' tower from the scrap yard before it was chopped up for about $2k. Got a good deal on some Tranzeo 5.8ghz equipment from a cable company and the learning experience commenced. I think I was 23 in that photo. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yoBltbqtUWMN-cHMsHTdx_fkx3N-EPkq?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yoBltbqtUWMN-cHMsHTd...

benbristow 8y ago
Sounds like an interesting story. You should write an article or something. I'm interested and I'm sure some other folk here would be too!
- sbr464 8y ago
  Thanks, I do need to! Funny thing, it was located on the same road where Tabasco sauce is made. I'm sure a tour bus passenger or two randomly caught me standing on top doing the (Brazilian) Christ the Redeemer (statue) pose. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_the_Redeemer_(statue) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_the_Redeemer_(statue)
pathseeker 8y ago
>Got a good deal on some Tranzeo 5.8ghz equipment from a cable company and the learning experience commenced. Did you have to get a license to operate on 5.8ghz in your country? If so, what was the process like to get one with permission to offer commercial service?
- sbr464 8y ago
  I didn't have to (USA). You were able to offer 900mhz, 2.4ghz, 5.8ghz without a license. There are regulations on total output power of a device, which comes from the antenna's dB gain and the output power of the wireless radio inside. I believe there are other higher bands that are unlicensed, but I didn't use those. I built a lot of the equipment using m0n0wall/soekris/pcengines gear.
  - pathseeker 8y ago
    >I didn't have to (USA). You were able to offer 900mhz, 2.4ghz, 5.8ghz without a license. Ah, sorry brainfart on my part, I didn't realize you were doing standard wifi. I always think of 802.11A(C) space as just 5GHz when it covers basically all of 5-6GHz. (For anyone interested: this has a nice list of channels https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels )
- sbr464 8y ago
  You can find a lot of info online, since it's one of the easiest way to start an ISP in a rural location. Google for WISP forums. If I did it again, in a very rural area, I would look into licensed 4G/5G vs traditional wifi.
  - pathseeker 8y ago
    >If I did it again, in a very rural area, I would look into licensed 4G/5G vs traditional wifi. I was looking into this same thing (rural with low subscriber numbers) a few years ago. The costs of 4G and equipment for it were obscene compared to putting up ubiquiti equipment on 5g band.
    - sbr464 8y ago
      Have you checked out LimeSDR? There are a few software defined radio platforms that also have an open source community. I was thinking along those lines.

by sbr464 8y ago

benbristow 8y ago

Sounds like an interesting story. You should write an article or something. I'm interested and I'm sure some other folk here would be too!

sbr464 8y ago
Thanks, I do need to! Funny thing, it was located on the same road where Tabasco sauce is made. I'm sure a tour bus passenger or two randomly caught me standing on top doing the (Brazilian) Christ the Redeemer (statue) pose. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_the_Redeemer_(statue) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_the_Redeemer_(statue)

pathseeker 8y ago

>Got a good deal on some Tranzeo 5.8ghz equipment from a cable company and the learning experience commenced. Did you have to get a license to operate on 5.8ghz in your country? If so, what was the process like to get one with permission to offer commercial service?

sbr464 8y ago
I didn't have to (USA). You were able to offer 900mhz, 2.4ghz, 5.8ghz without a license. There are regulations on total output power of a device, which comes from the antenna's dB gain and the output power of the wireless radio inside. I believe there are other higher bands that are unlicensed, but I didn't use those. I built a lot of the equipment using m0n0wall/soekris/pcengines gear.
- pathseeker 8y ago
  >I didn't have to (USA). You were able to offer 900mhz, 2.4ghz, 5.8ghz without a license. Ah, sorry brainfart on my part, I didn't realize you were doing standard wifi. I always think of 802.11A(C) space as just 5GHz when it covers basically all of 5-6GHz. (For anyone interested: this has a nice list of channels https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels )
sbr464 8y ago
You can find a lot of info online, since it's one of the easiest way to start an ISP in a rural location. Google for WISP forums. If I did it again, in a very rural area, I would look into licensed 4G/5G vs traditional wifi.
- pathseeker 8y ago
  >If I did it again, in a very rural area, I would look into licensed 4G/5G vs traditional wifi. I was looking into this same thing (rural with low subscriber numbers) a few years ago. The costs of 4G and equipment for it were obscene compared to putting up ubiquiti equipment on 5g band.
  - sbr464 8y ago
    Have you checked out LimeSDR? There are a few software defined radio platforms that also have an open source community. I was thinking along those lines.