Ricochet May Go Away; Metricom Files Chapter 11

friday2k writes: "As seen on news.com Metricom finally files for chapter 11. This is too sad. Anyone know of good alternatives out there?" Nooooo! Don't do this to me! The story says, "the company intends to keep the wireless Internet service up and running for the time being," so perhaps all is not lost. Even though it's a little pricey at ~$70/month, and only works in a few cities, Metricom's Ricochet is absolutely the best wireless Internet service I've ever used. Their coverage maps have been accurate and they have always treated Linux users decently (unlike this sorry bunch). I hope a decent company buys Metricom, figures out a way to make money with the system, and bring it to the rest of the U.S., even the rest of the world. Meanwhile, all I can do is plaintively echo friday2k's question: Anyone know of good alternatives out there? (Even 19.2KBPS would be okay with me if the service is Linux-friendly and has good nationwide coverage.)

Comments

Using my ricochet right now!

[burtonator]

Well... yes. I am replying to this on my Ricochet right now. My services is actually through WorldCOM so I don't know what is going to happen.

Not many people know this but the Ricochet can actually handle 256k. I have a patched Linux 2.4.5 kernel and run it over USB (serial can't handle > 128k) and I get 240 throughput often.

It would be a REAL shame if this goes away.

All this dotcom stuff is really going to set back technology. The stupid VC have invested in dump companies (Eazel) and inflated the economy and now smart/cool companies have to pay the price (Ricochet).

ug.

Nooooooooo!

[Ryu2]

Believe it or not, Ricochet isn't just useful for mobile professionals. There are STILL "pockets", even in the Silicon Valley, with still no cable or DSL service.

An example is southern Los Altos, California, near the Foothill Expressway/CA 280 intersection. Not exactly an undeveloped area!

My Ricochet connection I have is not a convenience that I use when I just go travel -- it is MY PRIMARY BROADBAND CONNECTION.

Besides Ricochet, the only other option is satellite, which is just as expensive, but with horrible latency problems to boot, making them almost useless for anything interactive like telnet/ssh.