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Ricochet Modems == Wireless LAN?
dpease writes: "Metricom, purveyor of Ricochet wireless networking, died today. I understand that, sans infrastructure, a Ricochet wireless modem can call another Ricochet modem, and that modem-to-modem range is nearly a mile. Is the hardware this company leaves behind a viable solution for a really cool, really cheap wireless LAN?"
If you rip one down, please document the innards as well as you can and share the info. Ricochet/Metricom, the corporation may be dead, but the technology lives on...
This was years ago, so maybe they improved.
-sandro
Jeezus. That's EXACTLY what they DID do.Only way you can come out of this not looking like a fuck'n moron is to claim sarcasm.
Whoever moderated this as "insightful" is an even bigger dope.
Rogue Bolo
since when did EMC decome a large Unix system provider? Geeze, I thought my symetrix was a disk array. Shows what I know ;)
There is a peer to peer mode in Ricochet modems - at least (here's the catch) the older modems. Some guys on the Wearable Computing Mailing List have gotten them to work in P2P mode without any trouble.
However, Ricochet removed or somehow blocked this functionality in more recent models (those released within the past year). So the newer modems, unless you can figure out what they did and undo it, are useless in P2P mode.
As for your buddy, he must not know about the older models (I've seen them work in a demonstration here in Canada - definitely no network infrastructure).
all right, campaign's off. the bug report is closed, so I think it means that accounts aren't automatically put into the active state, until the person has logged in. either way, my script is broken for now....
I guess Baltimore does have/had a Ricochet network, so this is fairly academic, but...
Can I/will I be able to buy one of these modems? Back home (rural Oregon), there isn't any such network, so the P2P will work.
I figure that if they're going out of business you might be able to buy their remaining stock cheap?
(Keep in mind, the only ricochets I've worked with are the old 28.8's belonging to a friend. All bets are off with the new USB ones.)
/. crowd knows of the treasure, the prices will be driven up. Argh. Any one wanting to sell me their old 28.8 serials for $15 or so, email me at p-au-l@sim-er.net (Remove hyphens)
From what I've read and *seen*, these work much like landline modems. They even accept AT commands! Just tell one to "dial" the serial number of another one. If it's within, say, a mile of yours, a "ring" will happen on the other end. Just establish a PPP connection (Win98's Dial-Up server and many linux solutions will work), and you've got long range (>2 miles in good conditions), albeit slow, networking.
The possible uses for this just make me tingle. Wirelessly controlled robots with webcams, anyone?
Of course, I've been looking for deals on these babies on eBay, but now that the
I am not an apologist for Slashdot censorship, out of band editorial moderation, "bitchslapping" by editorial staff, et all. Because /. editors don't need public defense, they OWN the fucking site! You don't like it, go troll somewhere else. Your little perl script amounts to a denial of service attack and as such is ILLEGAL. You don't have the right to shut down a popular web forum simply because you don't agree with decisions made by the editorial board. If you don't like it, go download slashcode or scoop and start your own fucking site. Script kiddies like you maybe ought to see the inside of a jail once or twice to straighten out your sense of proportion when it comes to injustice.
--Maynard
I was looking at the WWC site and they sell modems on there along side the Ricochets. Would those be compatible with Ricochet in the same Peer to Peer fassion? Also, about the Boxes on the poles, they are selling them I'm guessing along with the 17 cities http://www.metricom.com/auctioninfo/index.html
(Score:0, Interesting)
I recieved this from my ISP. Looks like they will be shutting down.
Hosting for Creators: http://rpg-works.net
The difference, of course, is that it's harder to tap a phone line for data than to drive around with a radio receiver. For dial-up authentication, passwords are usually sent unencrypted. That would be a disaster for a wireless network.
I believe I also read that these modems encrypt data locally, and transmit on a given frequency for only a very short burst at a time.
The frequency-hoppping element doesn't seem too relevant -- since the modems can establish a connection between each other in an untrusted mode, the same algorithm can be used to intercept the transmission.
If you've got concerns about eavesdropping, then add your own encryption before data is sent.
Data such as the password? At what point would encryption kick in to protect the password negotiation? Any idea what software would be used on both ends for that scenario?
Tim
So you can get your modem to work, you will not have any problems with the FCC.
Looking for any old 8-bit Heathkit/Zenith software/hardware - http://heathkit.garlanger.com
cd: /dev/null: Not a directory
I've been looking for a driver for this too. No evidence that I can find that one exists yet. My brother has a Qwest DSL circuit and that's what they gave him to connect with. You could run windows on a 486 and stick a network card in it and use a crossover cable to hook the winbox to your real computer or use a straight cable from the winbox to a hub and a straight cable from the hub to your computer. A better way to do it would be to get a used Cisco 675 router and use that. It will prob'ly cost more than a 486 with a network card, but it works with the same data encoding that the Intel card uses and takes up less space (and generates less heat). It won't crash every 47 days either but you will have to reboot it every time it gets scanned by the Code Red worm because it won't bridge any more until you cycle power on it.
Nope, they used some tricks to avoid the need. First of all, they put some pretty strict power constraints on these. That's why some people are able to (illegally) boost their power and transmit for many miles.
They also transmit on a given frequency for a very short time, then hop to another.
These things allow them to operate on "public" frequencies. It's a great hack, but easy to abuse. If 10 guys boost their power in a neighborhood, no one gets to use it, because of signal bleed.
Should does work on all the older modems.
The newer GS/GT externals should also work.
The pcmcia cards will not work in this mode.
There was a Mac Appletalk starmode driver (MetriTalk) written years ago. The problem is that it appears only to work with the old MacTCP stack, not with Open Transport.
However, if you get it running under MacTCP, you should be able to use Appletalk and MacIP over it.
The driver details are here.
You'll have to do a search on one of the Mac software archive mirrors to find the actual binary though - the link on Stuart's page is broken.
It's a USB modem that uses PPP, my man! I have one running on Mac OS X right now. I'm talking to you through it. The only operating systems that they offer telephone support for are Windows and Mac OS, but surely Linux/BSD people can figure out how to connect a PPP modem? It is exactly the same as if the Ricochet modem were a 56k hooked to a landline.
I doubt Ricochet got their frequencies for free. What band are they using? Given my knowledge of the 900 MHz band, there are only a few places where one can just "set up" such a system, and I don't think there's room for dozens of channels. Given these things can talk a mile, their base stations and the service as a whole are likely licensed (although a quick FCC database search does not find them). Someone buying up Ricochet's frequency license and finding all these existing users there likely would be pissed.
I've developed online games for over six years. I understand lag.
If you really are Nostradamus (or at least his eyes), you should've seen that I was going to write a saracastic comment long before I acutally did.
It's reasons like that, that my uncle stepped down as marketing president from the company a year or so ago. He made a bid for CEO because of the company's mismanagement and they pretty much told him, "thanks, but no thanks." His suggestions to improve the company fell on deaf ears and he decided to take the beaucoup bucks and leave. For the past year and a half he's been sailing his yacht and travelling. I'm sure he's not regretting leaving now. :)
http://www.cirronet.com
Cirronet builds a cheap access point - $1000 for a developer's kit with one customer radio - and you can attach it via USB or RS232. I've got the RS232 working with FreeBSD and I hear there are linux drivers that work with the USB units.
I am very easy to get along with, but I don't have time to waste being nice to people who are being stupid. -Theo
Keyboard sniffers? I've got a couple they can sniff..
Yes, it will.
WWC had a flash rom update for the old 28.8 modems. On the same page as the update, WWC says that "extras" like peer to peer, TMA (basically you use your ricochet to connect to the network, then make a landline modem dialout to a regular number), and starmode were not supported.
Does anyone know if this update disables any features? (If so, then I'm not buying any WWC flashed ricochets...)
o ya, huge lan. Maybe Kali and ipx games will make a comeback!
Dude, 802.11b IS a guerilla network... I wonder which would make a better guerilla network, STRIP or WiFi? 128kbps v 11mbps 900mhz band v 2.4ghz band 1mi range v 5-???mi range clunky box v sleek pcmcia STRIP protocol v ethernet protocol
The direct connection is just like a landline. The old serial ricochets take AT commands over a serial port. Just tell it to "dial" the serial number of another one, and it generates a "ring" on the other side. Establish a PPP, and you're ready to rock.
And yes, the range kicks tail.
There are actually 3 different ways (at least) to do peer to peer with the Metricom radios.
1. Assuming you arn't using the Ricochet network at all and just have a pair of modems and a pair of computers then you can just treat the radios like a regular modem. I've got a pair of the older units and on the back there is a number like xxxx-yyyy. Set one of your systems up to answer calls and plug that number into your dialer you're done. One minor annoyance is that the standard Windows dialer (at least some versions) likes to strip out the "-" but there are plenty of ways to work around that.
2. Star Mode. So far as I know this is only supported under Linux and it basically turns 2 or more of these units into a lan. Look for the STRIP driver in the Linux kernel and have fun.
3. If you do have access to the Ricochet network I believe you can do #1 above through the network and thus get around the distance limitations. My understanding is that this ability was eliminated/changed in later models but I only have the older units and I'm nowhere near any official Ricochet nodes anyways.
As for the range, it depends entirely between what is in between the two nodes. In my particular neighborhood 1/2 mile was about the limit for normal use however if you have a clear view of the other node then you can go much farther.
--
Ray
Sorry to say, but your precious Mandrake is selling out as well:0 22 4&mode=thread
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/07/31/042
amateur radio ...
Gee... I wonder why. Maybe it would help if the cord on your modem was shorter. Why don't you make the cord into a loop?
But incredibly insecure?
that's why people invented VPN's
You're entirely wrong when you say there is no difference between physical and wireless networks.
And you're entirely wrong trying to tell me that my personal experience is wrong. I said that I do not consider any wired network to which I have ever connected secure, therefore it's no different for me to switch to wireless.
I understand that most people think of their network connection as being sort of like a phone line for computers, and think of a connection between computers over a network as sort of like a phone call between computers. Private, isolated, secure. They're wrong, of course, and personally, I don't consider a network medium secure unless I personally control access to the premises or can see all of the wires and equipment without wandering around or turning my head. I don't even take for granted the security of my Apartment Area Network. Why? I have a roommate and a landlord.
I like to play children's songs in minor keys.
"We're all sons of bitches now." --J. Robert Oppenheimer
From what I've read and *seen*, these work much like landline modems. They even accept AT commands! Just tell one to "dial" the serial number of another one. If it's within, say, a mile of yours, a "ring" will happen on the other end. Of course, to prevent breakins, just have the recieving device set up with authentication. Just like you would running a dial-up server at home.
I believe I also read that these modems encrypt data locally, and transmit on a given frequency for only a very short burst at a time. (This allows them to avoid hefty FCC charges!) If you've got concerns about eavesdropping, then add your own encryption before data is sent.
Um... anyone know of a cheap Mac PPP server? Otherwise I gotta go dig up that linux box, make the serial port work somehow, figure out how to run a PPP server on linux...
Coolness. I'll run it on a few computers constantly until it fails (security bug fixed or whatever).
The above is an exact copy of my posting at http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=01/08/03/23372 55&cid=43 under someone else's name.
Bah, forget that. Just go up and steal them. Take a big white van and wear a hardhat and the cops won't bother you either. :)
funny munging
Yes, there is P2P mode directly between modems. P2P was turned of on the newer R2 network. I have two of the GS modems and have been playing with P2P.
The best source for Ricochet modems for use in peer-to-peer networking is eBay. Many former customers sell their equipment there.
However, 802.11b only has a range of about a hundred meters, while the ricochet modems have a range of a couple thousand meters. They are a tad slower, however.
Do you even know anything about perl? -- AC Replying to Tom Christiansen post.
Now, A local isp just began offering 128k wireless internet, and I assume it's the same infrastructure merticom used. So, I suspose I can't use them peer to peer. I wish I could, because a while ago someone figured out how to get on the internet with 2 of these, a host computer and a TI-89 calculator. Ever since then I've dreamed of using my calculator to get on irc in the middle of class, and mabey surf the web from my shell account and lynx. Oh well, I can always use the computers they have in class, or mabey whip out my laptop and some cat 5 and abuse the schools' dual T-1s (there are cat 5 jacks in almost all the classrooms at my hs) Anyway, just my thoughts.
No you don't need the $250 box. Most 802.11b-cards can do peer-to-peer.
imagine having every gamer in the us in a convention center for huge lan party
We seldom regret saying too little but often regret saying too much.
Will the new 128k model work in peer-to-peer mode if your not in the range of the ricochet services?
I've used the Linksys products as well as the D-Link products and now I own the D-Link ones. The access point was 179 and the pc card was 89. Far off from what you quote and beyond that, you can network between two 802.11 cards in p2p mode bringing the cost to as low as $180. A bit far off from your $500 figure....
Perl - $Just @when->$you ${thought} s/yn/tax/ &couldn\'t %get $worse;
(Nightingale being the firm that has stepped in to liquidate the company.) By shutting off the service before the auction on August 16th, Nightingale has destroyed whatever goodwill the company might have had left and has prevented the auction of part or all of the network as a "going concern," as claimed at http://www.metricom.com/auctioninfo/. It has also sabotaged WWC's chances of being able to sell the services provided by a buyer. WWC has been hurt by this. It should sue.
In all, to 95% of the people out there, the Internet is just a suppliment, like a glorified fax machine
You mean like this?
Too bad there isn't some sort of global network tying everyone together.
Oh, you mean like this?
So we all want an open and free network...
The next time a large network like this shuts down and auctions their network off (unfortunately, we can't do this with Ricochet because they've already registered the bidders), let's all pitch in and bid on it.
Sure, there are a lot of inherent problems in purchasing this. For example, who would maintain the hardware?
It's still a decent idea, and if we all pitch in a little, it just might happen...
Do you like German cars?
this comment, while not quite relevant to what you're talking about, raises an interesting point. (BTW, people, don't copy the comment, the lameness filter won't allow it, just post a link to it, as I did. (You can view source to see how the HTML). What do you think?
IIRC OS9 and up have one built in. I don't have the iMac here so I can't check, but I do remember fiddling around with getting a Dreamcast to dial into it...
It seems to me after reading the article you refernce that the only way P2P is going to work is if no one buys the network and they shut it off. Then the whole problem of the nameserver goes away.
I've never messed with STRIP, but I do know this:
You can connect 2 modems to each other for a p2p connection. The new 128k Ricochet modems actually respond to many normal AT commands. All you need to do is open a terminal window and tell the ricochet to dial the modem number of the modem you want to connect do. Just make sure the modem on the receving end has a terminal window open so that you can answer the call. While this technique does work, I've found it to be painfully slow.
Also, Ricochet modems communicate with the ricochet poll-tops and other ricochet's at 900mhz. However, the poll-tops then communicate with each other at about 2.3ghz. (The spectrum that metricom has the rights to.)
When it works, Ricochet is a incredibly fun toy. However, it's stupid to use as a primary net connection. It's about as reliable as a cell phone.
Just a thought, someone who was near an 802.11 interface could setup the richochet machine to be a router. Then someone within a mile of them could do the same. We could have a whole wireless internet, and some person with 802.11 being screwed. Umm anyhow, This would work well in NY where there is lots of 802.11b
----
Some people tell me I am sleeping my life away, I simply tell them I am living my dreams.
Unless you are well connected, you get ping times around 200ms or above, which introduces noticeable lag.
Encrypted communications are one thing, but (and excuse me) they're nothing compared to keyboard sniffers. Heh.
Now wait a minute, broadcast modes aren't the same as star modes exactly...or are they?
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem& item=1172156629
Wow! kewl! only $56!!!!
Where online can you buy ricochet modems? I know that Metricom filed for bankruptcy a while ago.
sounds like a good idea...would work great in my warehouse. id need a minimum of 2 Ricochet units possibly more. Reply to stegman000 at hotmail dot com or the thread if you have any info for me
thanks
Actually, I just tried both p2p and starmode with my Merlin 128kbps card. Worked just fine.
.@.
...about this comment? I wasn't able to copy it because of the lameness filter, but I think it's interesting...the code spits out a new user twice per three seconds (although this is a way off-peak time period) and I've already made a few hundred with it. I think it's a good idea. Shall everyone join in? Can you see any objection?
http://www.airtoons.com/toons.php?toon=15 funny slashdot cartoon
I used to work for Metricom, so I had a chance to play around w/ their original 28.8Kbps modems. Those modems were 900MHz spread spectrum, so they had the range of a 900MHz phone. Keep in mind that the newer 128Kbps modems are around the 2.4GHz band, so I would guess that the range will be similar to such other devices in the same band. I think you could probably get quite some distance out of these things, but only if there aren't obstacles obstructing the ether.
Dude,
Get out of Austin. The job market is much better in areas who's tech market doesn't revolve around the Internet. Dallas and Houston are doing well, but then again I work on large UNIX systems (E10K, EMC, etc.). People with experience in that area aren't growing on trees exactly. If you are an x86 dude or low end Sun guy, it's rough.
Good Luck!
Well - you are at least ignorant. This much you just demonstrated. Do you even know what business model Metricom was founded on? Thought not. There original business model was to build a self-organizing set of radio repeater cells that would be placed on people's power meters! They were to replace meter readers! Metricom saw another possible use for the technology as they were getting this all rolling at the beginning of the intenet revolution. They switched hats and rolled out their wide-area radio network. At least get your facts straight when you opine something like this.
Have you compiled your kernel today??
Yes?
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
I had a look at their booth at Comdex last year, nice but I don't think it'll work outside their propritary network. Not 802.11ish...
I thought they were just bankrupt. Aren't they hoping on selling all their equipment, technology, and customer base to someone else?
http://www.metricom.com/auctioninfo/index.html
wouldn't you want it to be able to call more than one modem? if there is a three-second cost to negotiate each transaction... that would put a bit of a damper on your li'l LAN, now wouldn't it?
I'd love to see a Freenet spring up in Dallas using these things. Any others interested?
Here's a link to a FAQ on using your Ricochet Modem outside Metricom's Network.
/ ricochet%20gs%20modem.htm
http://www.enlightenment-engine.com/eeng/ricochet
I don't know if the LAN idea would work, but this would be a great idea if it did:
Instead of a normal LAN party (everybody in the same room) in a place where people were within a mile (I'm thinking dorm) Quake or CS would be great with next to nothing pings, but without the fuss of moving everything and getting it set up. Admittedly you lose the atmosphere, but I'd rather go for a few of these plus a regular LAN setup.
No sig for you.
from the Website it looks like they tried to stay afloat, but died anyway. They filed chapter 11 (which doesn't always mean the company dies) a month ago. In so doing, "the Company sought to restructure its operations and debt obligations while maintaining the operation of its wireless network and continuing to provide services and access." Oh well, guess it took them a month to figure out they couldn't, cause on August 8 they'll be gone. Wonder how much the tech behind the modems will go for at the auction? Not much atm, since no one has any money. I'm not looking forward to my eventual lowering of salary due to there being more and more techies available. We're not the rare commodity we used to be!
...no. The Ricochet modems were proprietary, and there is no peer to peer mode as some people are talking about. They are basically useless, unless someone purchases the network from Ricochet. I know someone that used to work there, so I have a lot of information about how this network works. I asked him before posting this to confirm, and he said that there is no peer to peer mode on the wireless modem. ONCE AGAIN - THE MODEM IS TRASH UNLESS SOMEONE PURCHASES THE NETWORK. Sorry to burst your bubble.
Anyone know of drivers for any flavor of linux that will make either of these work? I'm forced to use Windows as my main OS because I can't get linux to recognize these bastards :P
Man, I'm frustrated .. I read the article the other day about Ricochet and that they intended to let go of their staff and turn off their network, and I called up my provider, WWC (Wireless Web Connect) and asked what was going on, and if my service would be impacted..
I was immediately assured that Ricochet had only announced Chapter 11 Bankrupcy and that this was only for financial reasons and it would not impact my service at all. I pointed them at the article on slashdot, and was assured that it was just a rumor.
So now, I call them up again and all I can get is a recorded message saying that they have filed legal action to force Ricochet to keep their network online and provide users with at least 30 days notice. Additionally, they say that although Ricochet intends to keep their service online until the date in the future, degredation of service will happen between now and then.
(Case and point, it took me 30 minutes to get connected.. I kept getting No Dial Tone, even though I have green flashy lights indicated signal).
WWC has a lot of sales speak about remaining committed and blah blah blah. They'll stop billing us if Ricochet's network should happen to go dead. How great of them. They also claim that they're working with AT&T on their Wireless Data Service .. A new CDPD modem will be needed, and their trying to get existing Ricochet customers a $$ break. .....I guess I need to get a new ISP Account .. and back to 33.6 I go.. :( :( :(
I'm sure someone can elaborate... but I believe that it basically said it will work with the older 28.8 modems, but not the new 128 capable ones.
Looks like there are SOME interesting uses for these old Metricom modems in Linux. STRIP looks pretty interesting. Still, I'm seeing articles like this that make me think that the newer, faster modems are going to be useless.
Anybody have any more info relating to using these new GS models in peer-to-peer? I just bought a GS model, and I'm looking to get another. I'm seeing people posting on here that the modems are trash now-- but I'm not so sure that's the case.
The Attitude Adjuster, I hate me, you can too.
I don't now how much the FCC will like you doing that with no Licenes. They tend to take gear that is used against law , and may slap on a fine too. good luck
Just imagine if you used these things to link together a Beowulf cluster!
Alex Belits, a true Metricom packet radio fan, has lots of information on this at http://phobos.illtel.denver.co.us/~abelits/metrico m/.
I have mixed feelings about the demise of Metricom, myself. Properly used, the technology could have had great benefits. However, the company was arrogant and poorly managed. At one time, K N Energy (the local gas company) announced that they were going to deploy Metricom in our town. Neither they nor Metricom had given consideration to the fact that a wireless WAN serving many community organizations and some of the schools ran on the same frequency band. (The Metricom equipment -- dozens of transmitters running at the maximum legal output -- would have blown the other users right off the air.) The existing users made a reasonable request before the City Council: If Metricom was going to monopolize a public resource -- the 900 MHz band -- they should pay at least some of the cost of moving the schools and small business users to another band. But Ralph Derrickson of Metricom (the CEO until the bankruptcy) arrogantly refused to make any such concession. Fortunately, K N Energy's management was not so coldhearted, and agreed to help the community network move to another band if Ricochet was to be deployed in our city. (The network was never deployed, however, as K N Energy dropped its Ricochet franchise shortly thereafter.) The story is at http://www.lariat.org/metricom.html.
It may have been a similar lack of consideration for others (prices too high for the market; poor customer service) that led to Metricom's recent economic problems. $80 per month for 128 Kbps or less simply wasn't competitive with DSL, and there are not enough mobile users to support such a system by themselves. $29.95 per month would be more like it.
--Brett Glass
Its called STRIP - STarmode Radio IP, and there are Linux drivers. Check out the info at:
http://ns.uoregon.edu/~jremy/strip.html
There appears to be two modes to these modems: peer-peer or broadcast. Apparently Metricom calls their broadcast mode "starmode." These drivers allow you to basicly setup a wireless subnet. Very cool.
Can someone comment on the security of these modems? I might have to get myself a couple.
Using your sig line to advertise for friends is lame.
For comparison purposes, if you want to build a wireless 802.11b lan, and you want to do it with stuff you can buy from a major retailer, you're gonna need:
one of these. - $250
at least two of these. - $130 each.
so, we're up to $510, as a reference point, as to what an 802.11b network costs.
~z
sig?
Rick? Rick O'Shea? He died?
What a shame. Such an nice guy too. I guess his brother in law, Patty O'Furniture will deliver the eulogy.
But seriously..anyone for a city wide game of Unreal Tournament?
"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme." Mark Twain
Will their "hubs" (or whatever they use) be liquidated and turned into cash, or will the stuff all be left on the light-poles? Can people go and grab those things now, and reverse-engineer them, and build a new ricochet network, guerilla-style? Heh, if they were in my area, i'd be seriously looking into cherry-picker-truck rentals. :)
Oh shit! I forgot to click "Post Anonymously"...
No, more like I've been an a.t lurker off and on for about 3 years.
Of course, given the extremely small user base of Linux laptops, Ricochet probably doesn't care. But I think you can make it work.
Here is a schematic for a 6 watt, 900 MHz bi-directional wireless data amplifier this would be perfect for old Ricochet hardware. All the parts are quite easy to find also.
According to Alex Belitis's Metricom-on-Linux web page, there was no hardware change. It's just that the Metricom pole top units were no longer programmed to forward peer-to-peer "star mode" packets for modems registered after December 23, 2000. If you have two modems talking directly to each other rather than through a pole top unit, then there shuld be no problem.
On the other hand, six months ago I tried and failed to get my Merlin Metricom card to talk my external USB metricom modem in star mode.
no, not the strip clubs...
yes, we have heard much of this before in the comments section. Nevermind reading the articles, do you read the comments? You would think that the editors would. Oh wait. They don't read the articles either half the time.
boys, pay more attention. Worthless Karma whoring happens when you do shit like this.
The "modems" can be used for point to point links without retransmitters, however the distances that I have observed were much less than a mile -- apparently long distances are achievable only if there is a cleat line of sight between transmitter and receiver, and in those conditions 2.4GHz wireless stuff makes at least as muhc sense, plus it's faster.
The information about ricochet modems and their use in both "normal" and point to point mode under linux is at this page that I maintain.
Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
Any Macintosh support for this type of networking? I mean we have Airport, but with 1 mile, you cant go wrong :)
WWC, of all the Metricom resellers, is apparently the one that's fighting hardest to keep the system alive. They may, in fact, sue to prevent the network from being turned off on August 8th.
sounds great, and very illegal, IIRC the max ouput on 900mhz is 1 watt.
-- free as in swatantryam - not soujanyam.
umm, sorry but no. 900mhz is not an amatuer band, it is an unliscensed band. So even if you are liscensed, you are still limited to 1 watt. Also i had heard that the modems use encryption on the links, so if you did claim that you were allowed to use an amp because you have your amatuer radio lisecnse, you would be violating another regulation about codes and cyphers.
-- free as in swatantryam - not soujanyam.
I am sure everyone reading this thread is trying to get onto Alex Belits web page (link doesn't work, hence this post) as it is linked multiple places in this thread, and every webpage worth it's weight is linking to his page (he added support for the Richochet GS/128 k modems to STRIP). Unfortunately his page is inaccessible; however, and I know this is not really kosher; GOOGLE has an archived copy of this page, allowing you to read up on the support, and get a better feeling of where the project is now, as well as the support for the USB modems and 2.x kernel, straight through support and patches for the 2.4.1 kernel. Hope this helps everyone, this sounds like a very interesting technology, it's too bad it didn't fly.
-OctaneZ
hello??? 900 MHz (33cm) has been a ham band for awhile and the maxiumum power for amateur radio spread spectrum devices is 100 watts. You can use encryption if the codes are in public view.
wake up.
Actually it's the 902-928MHz range.
Can anyone clarify the range without line of site? It sounds like Alex is saying the range of 802.11b is comparable to the Metricom radios. I've found 802.11 to be pretty limited w/o LOS, so I would be willing to trade a doubling of range for the bandwidth.
Well, it is not officially supported on Linux. I have been running a Merlin Ricochet 128Kbps wireless screaming cool modem for about 8 months now. It did take a kernel patch to the serial driver due to a very large UART that tripped a bug in the linux kernel. Yes, the kernel does have some bugs. :)
I have been very happy with my connection and all my land line buddies cry when they see me running around with my laptop getting better connections than they can!
I am most bummed that Ricochet is going away. But then again, I just got laid off and probably can't afford to pay for it anymore anyway. :(
Can anyone say over 400,000 jobs lost in the bay area since the beginning of the year? In case you aren't paying attention we are rapidly heading for a global depression. I saw one analyst that said 40% of the IT workforce has been laid off!
The amazing thing is that the economy is still growing. Go figure.
I am going to enjoy my last few days of 128K before I have to go back to a land line. :( Because even in Silicon Valley you still can't get decent bandwidth.
enjoy
about the frequency, yes, i was wrong, i was under the impression that richochet was up at 950. And amutuers are secondary users of ther band.
but about codes and cyphers, they are only allowed for purposes of checksumming or authentiaction.
fcc rules part 97.113 , section 4 contains the following under prohibited emmisions:
"messages in codes or ciphers intended to obscure the meaning thereof".
-- free as in swatantryam - not soujanyam.
Early this year, when Metricom began to scale back deployment, while they curtailed installation of poletops, they were contractually bound to hardware purchases at a rate consistent with full-bore deployment.
So somewheres in a dark warehouse(s), there is a stash of un-installed poletops.
Probably show up at the Aug 16th auction.
Norm
If you and a few of your local crazy-ass friends got together, you could make your own wireless LAN. Check out what the folks in seattle have done.
Alex Belits, a true Metricom packet radio fan, has lots of information on this at http://phobos.illtel.denver.co.us/~abelits/metrico m/.
I have mixed feelings about the demise of Metricom, myself. Properly used, the technology could have had great benefits. However, the company was arrogant and poorly managed. At one time, K N Energy (the local gas company) announced that they were going to deploy Metricom in our town. Neither they nor Metricom had given consideration to the fact that a wireless WAN serving many community organizations and some of the schools ran on the same frequency band. (The Metricom equipment -- dozens of transmitters running at the maximum legal output -- would have blown the other users right off the air.) The existing users made a reasonable request before the City Council: If Metricom was going to monopolize a public resource -- the 900 MHz band -- they should pay at least some of the cost of moving the schools and small business users to another band. But Ralph Derrickson of Metricom (the CEO until the bankruptcy) arrogantly refused to make any such concession. Fortunately, K N Energy's management was not so coldhearted, and agreed to help the community network move to another band if Ricochet was to be deployed in our city. (The network was never deployed, however, as K N Energy dropped its Ricochet franchise shortly thereafter.) The story is at http://www.lariat.org/metricom.html.
It may have been a similar lack of consideration for others (prices too high for the market; poor customer service) that led to Metricom's recent economic problems. $80 per month for 128 Kbps or less simply wasn't competitive with DSL, and there are not enough mobile users to support such a system by themselves. $29.95 per month would be more like it.