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I'm working on starting a Wireless ISP in rural Portugal: https://gardunha.net https://gardunha.net It's a nice mix of both online and offline work. Also, the

I'm working on starting a Wireless ISP in rural Portugal: https://gardunha.net https://gardunha.net It's a nice mix of both online and offline work. Also, the community around here is mostly made up of various combinations of farmers, hippies, retirees, and permaculture folks. Everyone wants a decent internet connection, but no one really has the skills to do much about it. I've lived here a year now, so thought I'd give it a go. It's a windy road. Actually, it all started out because I wanted to get fast internet for myself on my farm. Then I thought, "Hey, why not start a business?" Feature creep at its best.

sbayeta 6y ago
I like it! Good luck!
nkg 6y ago
that's really cool
license2e 6y ago
I am sure you have already seen this, but for reference to anyone else who wants to start their own ISP: https://startyourownisp.com/ https://startyourownisp.com/ Note: not sure how correct this information is outside of US
- adamcharnock 6y ago
  That site was actually the inspiration for this. I saw it on HN a few years ago and it just stayed in the back of my mind. I hadn't really considered it as an option up until that point. Something else I've found useful is RF Elements' YouTube channel. In particular this playlist [1]. I suspect they overstate some issues slightly in order to promote their own products, but I'm super impressed with how well the video's explain the topics. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwciKjvHFfY&list=PLii-eQuaf57ocpSGH6NR8IKtJvB9mb81h https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwciKjvHFfY&list=PLii-eQuaf5...
twicetwice 6y ago
That's super cool! If you aren't already, keep an eye on Starlink—when they start operating in Portugal I bet it'd be a real benefit to your business. Yours is pretty much the ideal use case. Also, wow, living and coding in rurad Portugal sounds like a pretty idyllic life from here. Aproveite pra mim, né?
- adamcharnock 6y ago
  Thanks! And I hadn't actually thought of Starlink in that light, I had been assuming they would be competition. Could you explain your thoughts to me a little more? I'd be really interested to hear them.
  - ncrmro 6y ago
    You connect to starlink at your tower and everyone connects to your towner. I don't believe starlink end user is personal internet.
    - adamcharnock 6y ago
      Excellent, that is certainly the answer I was hoping for!
ifemide06 6y ago
This is soo cool Adam! Well-done Might consider this in the future for my local community
sadok 6y ago
This is amazing, I've been thinking of doing the same for my area. I've always wondered about the ping tho. Right now I have 4ms with my current provider which uses a wired connection. Whats the usual ping using radio? (from a client perspective)
- adamcharnock 6y ago
  The radio will generally add 2-3ms latency I believe. Plus any routing latency at the customer's router, and any latency in your own infrastructure. If one is comparing to satellite or LTE, then this is basically amazing. If you're comparing to existing copper/fibre connection then it will have some effect. I'm saying this having not actually deployed the hardware yet, just based on research.
- mciancia 6y ago
  Depends on radio and network. Right now, I'm on wifi (so it goes wifi -> router -> ISP radio -> ISP fiber) and have 2.5ms ping to one of the bigger DC in my city, so I guess it can be pretty good ;)
erikw 6y ago
I did WISP work for a while in snowy rural California. My biggest surprise is that my time was 90% construction (drilling through walls, snowshoeing out to climb towers, running cables, etc) & customer support, and about 10% fun networking and hardware configuration. We used mostly Mikrotik equipment for the backbone because it is dirt cheap, with a combination of Ubiquiti and Cambium radios. My favorite tool that I discovered is the open source "Splat! HD"[1], a radio viewshed generator that you can use to optimally place your towers, and find out if an end user should be a able to connect. Ubiquiti also has a similar tool commercially available. [1] https://www.qsl.net/kd2bd/splat.html https://www.qsl.net/kd2bd/splat.html

sbayeta 6y ago

I like it! Good luck!

nkg 6y ago

that's really cool

license2e 6y ago

I am sure you have already seen this, but for reference to anyone else who wants to start their own ISP: https://startyourownisp.com/ https://startyourownisp.com/ Note: not sure how correct this information is outside of US

adamcharnock 6y ago
That site was actually the inspiration for this. I saw it on HN a few years ago and it just stayed in the back of my mind. I hadn't really considered it as an option up until that point. Something else I've found useful is RF Elements' YouTube channel. In particular this playlist [1]. I suspect they overstate some issues slightly in order to promote their own products, but I'm super impressed with how well the video's explain the topics. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwciKjvHFfY&list=PLii-eQuaf57ocpSGH6NR8IKtJvB9mb81h https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwciKjvHFfY&list=PLii-eQuaf5...

twicetwice 6y ago

That's super cool! If you aren't already, keep an eye on Starlink—when they start operating in Portugal I bet it'd be a real benefit to your business. Yours is pretty much the ideal use case. Also, wow, living and coding in rurad Portugal sounds like a pretty idyllic life from here. Aproveite pra mim, né?

adamcharnock 6y ago
Thanks! And I hadn't actually thought of Starlink in that light, I had been assuming they would be competition. Could you explain your thoughts to me a little more? I'd be really interested to hear them.
- ncrmro 6y ago
  You connect to starlink at your tower and everyone connects to your towner. I don't believe starlink end user is personal internet.
  - adamcharnock 6y ago
    Excellent, that is certainly the answer I was hoping for!

ifemide06 6y ago

This is soo cool Adam! Well-done Might consider this in the future for my local community

sadok 6y ago

This is amazing, I've been thinking of doing the same for my area. I've always wondered about the ping tho. Right now I have 4ms with my current provider which uses a wired connection. Whats the usual ping using radio? (from a client perspective)

adamcharnock 6y ago
The radio will generally add 2-3ms latency I believe. Plus any routing latency at the customer's router, and any latency in your own infrastructure. If one is comparing to satellite or LTE, then this is basically amazing. If you're comparing to existing copper/fibre connection then it will have some effect. I'm saying this having not actually deployed the hardware yet, just based on research.
mciancia 6y ago
Depends on radio and network. Right now, I'm on wifi (so it goes wifi -> router -> ISP radio -> ISP fiber) and have 2.5ms ping to one of the bigger DC in my city, so I guess it can be pretty good ;)

erikw 6y ago

I did WISP work for a while in snowy rural California. My biggest surprise is that my time was 90% construction (drilling through walls, snowshoeing out to climb towers, running cables, etc) & customer support, and about 10% fun networking and hardware configuration. We used mostly Mikrotik equipment for the backbone because it is dirt cheap, with a combination of Ubiquiti and Cambium radios. My favorite tool that I discovered is the open source "Splat! HD"[1], a radio viewshed generator that you can use to optimally place your towers, and find out if an end user should be a able to connect. Ubiquiti also has a similar tool commercially available. [1] https://www.qsl.net/kd2bd/splat.html https://www.qsl.net/kd2bd/splat.html