Any providers ever WISP'd?
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Have any of you ever worked for, designed, etc a WISP? Not sure why, I keep wanting to dabble. I need to be talked out of it.
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If by WISP you mean Wireless Internet Service Provider then yes, I have. About 10 years ago. When people had a choice of expensive DSL of cheap wifi. It still makes sense in rural areas, where broadband is simply not available or your only choice is expensive Comcast of some other scumbag company.
What you need to realise is that you will run into bunch of legal bs, paperwork, and other crap. We tried to rent a space on a tower owned by electric company, and the requirements they gave us were insane, just to even be able to be considered. Planning, architectural designs, some regulatory bs, we were looking at spending thousands before they would even consider renting us the space. And rent was nuts too. It was much easier dealing with churches, they would allow us to mount antennas in exchange for free internet, no money involved.
There also were technical issues, that most people don't realize, I can talk about it more if you want to, but generally, if you have other options available, don't mess with WISP.
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I know the guy that used to own a local ISP that was forced to go down the WISP route when dialup started falling out of favor. Him and his business partner ended up selling the company, and now he runs the local computer repair storefront. Actually, I think I'll go say hello over lunch. If you've got the funding for the initial equipment layout already setup, then go for it. If you have no idea even what equipment you need to get started, don't bother.
Seriously, you're going to spend $100,000 on a single piece of equipment to get started. Unless you have a known customer base already, getting started is difficult. As my friend said "Be prepared to eat nothing but Raman Noodles for a couple years."
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@travisdh1 said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
I know the guy that used to own a local ISP that was forced to go down the WISP route when dialup started falling out of favor. Him and his business partner ended up selling the company, and now he runs the local computer repair storefront. Actually, I think I'll go say hello over lunch. If you've got the funding for the initial equipment layout already setup, then go for it. If you have no idea even what equipment you need to get started, don't bother.
Seriously, you're going to spend $100,000 on a single piece of equipment to get started. Unless you have a known customer base already, getting started is difficult. As my friend said "Be prepared to eat nothing but Raman Noodles for a couple years."
$100,000? That's really excessive. You can get started with Ubnt equipment for less than $1000.
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yeah, @travisdh1 sounds like you've not priced goodies in a while. while 1K seems low, i'd think 10K would atleast get you started
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@KyleCaminita said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
yeah, @travisdh1 sounds like you've not priced goodies in a while. while 1K seems low, i'd think 10K would atleast get you started
Highlighted the keywords that jump out at me. You need to know, not think.
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@travisdh1 said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
@KyleCaminita said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
yeah, @travisdh1 sounds like you've not priced goodies in a while. while 1K seems low, i'd think 10K would atleast get you started
Highlighted the keywords that jump out at me. You need to know, not think.
Thinking is good enough for the planning phase. The closer he gets to actually considering this, the more he'd need real, concrete, finite numbers.
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nope. @travisdh1 has talked every person planning anything out of it. pfhew, that was easy.
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I've always thought that the idea was interesting. Never imagined being able to make a living at it. I'd love to do it if it made just a few dollars. It would be a fun project and good experience. But it would be super hard to even break even. So I've never tried it. You need the right situation for it to work.
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http://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-Edgerouter-Router-ERLITE-3/dp/B00HXT8EKE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1461162167&sr=8-1&keywords=edge+router+lite - $99
http://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-TS-5-POE-TOUGHSwitch-Advanced-Controllers/dp/B00CSRK6DE/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1461162196&sr=8-6&keywords=edge+switch - $87
http://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Nanostation-NSM5-802-11a-Hi-power/dp/B00HXT8KJ4/ref=pd_sim_147_4?ie=UTF8&dpID=31rdd4v4UtL&dpSrc=sims&preST=AC_UL160_SR160%2C160&refRID=0H6WP5WD2FWQSY1ZYSAB - $85
http://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-NanoStation-Window-Mount/dp/B004EHUR8U/ref=pd_sim_147_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=31JdpJfo9FL&dpSrc=sims&preST=AC_UL160_SR160%2C160&refRID=11H77JM2EXK4RDK1MD8N - $19
http://www.amazon.com/Dripstone-1000ft-Solid-Network-Ethernet/dp/B00QJGG4IG/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1461162817&sr=1-1&keywords=cat6+ethernet+cable+1000ft -$56
http://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Modular-Plugs-Stranded/dp/B004D5RFCE/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1461162853&sr=1-1&keywords=cat6+plugs - $13
http://www.amazon.com/InstallerParts-Network-Installation-Stripper-Screwdriver/dp/B008NXK0WO/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1461163192&sr=1-4&keywords=crimping+tool -$60Total $419. That leaves $581 for any other tools you might need.
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Or you can get one of these:
https://www.streakwave.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=EP-R8 - $459 -
@marcinozga That's going to let you provide service, sure. They were paying $5 for the microwave based wireless radios they were using in the mid 2000s. That side of it hasn't really changed that much price wise in a long time.
Where are you getting the backbone connection? That's going to be the biggest single cost sink. I actually complain all the time that OneCommunity has fiber run in my front yard, but isn't accessible unless you run a business. They have a POP in Cleveland where most of the major backbone providers are also located. So to get started, this is my short list.
- Negotiate fiber availability with OneCommunity
- Negotiate contract for an access port on one of the major backbone providers wikipedia's list (Said contract is going to be $ per megabyte/sec or some such because you WILL NOT qualify for peering yet. Just look at some of the peering requirements listed on wikipedia.)
- Negotiate with major providers (YouTube, Netflix, Cachefly, etc) to provide their local cache servers. They'll all want at least a minimum of a gigabit connection, which means a 10gb or 40gb port with OneCommunity.
- Setup your services on equipment that can actually keep up with your OneCommunity port speed. (Here's a hint, I don't find any 10gb ports on Ubiquity no matter how much I'd rather use their stuff.)
Of course I'm assuming you're wanting to sell service to more than ~20 households.
@KyleCaminita I have to talk MYSELF out of this all the time, guess I'm getting good at it
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@travisdh1 said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
@marcinozga That's going to let you provide service, sure. They were paying $5 for the microwave based wireless radios they were using in the mid 2000s. That side of it hasn't really changed that much price wise in a long time.
Where are you getting the backbone connection?
From your local ISP. Once you get into the area of negotiations with major backbone providers you usually get out, that's whole different league.
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The one WISP provider I personally know gets his bandwidth from a local provider. He stays busy, but has the oil field niche that is all going automated and remotely managed.
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@marcinozga said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
@travisdh1 said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
@marcinozga That's going to let you provide service, sure. They were paying $5 for the microwave based wireless radios they were using in the mid 2000s. That side of it hasn't really changed that much price wise in a long time.
Where are you getting the backbone connection?
From your local ISP. Once you get into the area of negotiations with major backbone providers you usually get out, that's whole different league.
If you plan to extend the service beyond what the local ISP has built out, then maybe you could do it, but it really limits the market you have available. Think of it this way, you are a potential competitor to the ISP, are they going to give you a good deal?
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@travisdh1 said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
@marcinozga said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
@travisdh1 said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
@marcinozga That's going to let you provide service, sure. They were paying $5 for the microwave based wireless radios they were using in the mid 2000s. That side of it hasn't really changed that much price wise in a long time.
Where are you getting the backbone connection?
From your local ISP. Once you get into the area of negotiations with major backbone providers you usually get out, that's whole different league.
If you plan to extend the service beyond what the local ISP has built out, then maybe you could do it, but it really limits the market you have available. Think of it this way, you are a potential competitor to the ISP, are they going to give you a good deal?
They don't have to. You just buy the service from them, then re-sell it. We were buying DSL lines at the regular business plan prices. I think overall we had close to 1000 customers in 30k city.
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@marcinozga said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
@travisdh1 said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
@marcinozga said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
@travisdh1 said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
@marcinozga That's going to let you provide service, sure. They were paying $5 for the microwave based wireless radios they were using in the mid 2000s. That side of it hasn't really changed that much price wise in a long time.
Where are you getting the backbone connection?
From your local ISP. Once you get into the area of negotiations with major backbone providers you usually get out, that's whole different league.
If you plan to extend the service beyond what the local ISP has built out, then maybe you could do it, but it really limits the market you have available. Think of it this way, you are a potential competitor to the ISP, are they going to give you a good deal?
They don't have to. You just buy the service from them, then re-sell it. We were buying DSL lines at the regular business plan prices. I think overall we had close to 1000 customers in 30k city.
Apparently it's different where you are. Around here even the business lines often have clauses that prevent you from reselling the service
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@travisdh1 said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
@marcinozga said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
@travisdh1 said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
@marcinozga said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
@travisdh1 said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
@marcinozga That's going to let you provide service, sure. They were paying $5 for the microwave based wireless radios they were using in the mid 2000s. That side of it hasn't really changed that much price wise in a long time.
Where are you getting the backbone connection?
From your local ISP. Once you get into the area of negotiations with major backbone providers you usually get out, that's whole different league.
If you plan to extend the service beyond what the local ISP has built out, then maybe you could do it, but it really limits the market you have available. Think of it this way, you are a potential competitor to the ISP, are they going to give you a good deal?
They don't have to. You just buy the service from them, then re-sell it. We were buying DSL lines at the regular business plan prices. I think overall we had close to 1000 customers in 30k city.
Apparently it's different where you are. Around here even the business lines often have clauses that prevent you from reselling the service
Yeah, I think that that is pretty common.
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@travisdh1 said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
@marcinozga said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
@travisdh1 said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
@marcinozga said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
@travisdh1 said in Any providers ever WISP'd?:
@marcinozga That's going to let you provide service, sure. They were paying $5 for the microwave based wireless radios they were using in the mid 2000s. That side of it hasn't really changed that much price wise in a long time.
Where are you getting the backbone connection?
From your local ISP. Once you get into the area of negotiations with major backbone providers you usually get out, that's whole different league.
If you plan to extend the service beyond what the local ISP has built out, then maybe you could do it, but it really limits the market you have available. Think of it this way, you are a potential competitor to the ISP, are they going to give you a good deal?
They don't have to. You just buy the service from them, then re-sell it. We were buying DSL lines at the regular business plan prices. I think overall we had close to 1000 customers in 30k city.
Apparently it's different where you are. Around here even the business lines often have clauses that prevent you from reselling the service
Not surprised - a resold line has a higher likeliness of running at or near full capacity. The sad fact is that ISPs almost always oversell their bandwidth, they have expectations of something like 30% usage over the 24 hour day.
