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County-wide Wireless Broadband
An anonymous submitter sent in this story about a Maryland county providing wireless broadband to everyone, well, almost everyone, anyway. The article doesn't mention how much the service costs, and I don't see anything on the network's website either. There is a good page of information about the network, though.
The correct link is here
I hate to say it but it seems like making broadband a public utility like water and electricity seems to work out well. In Tacoma, Washington the city gov. formed a broadband cable company and there modems and service is going strong and they did not have to endure the demise of @home...
Do a google search before posting.
It looks like they use a bunch of provides and tieit all into their network. Man... if they did this where I lived I would nut my shorts...
High Speed wireless access
The High-Speed Wireless network is the core of the ALLCONET network providing high-speed access to all members with little or no ongoing charges. Speeds are multiples of current T1 technology, installation is simplistic, and security is irrefutable.
Allconet implements a 10 Mbps backbone thought Allegany county encompassing 7 strategically located towers. The ALLCONET network uses 3 types of equipment to implement a 10 Mbps backbone with 2 and 3 Mbps spurs to building locations.
Breezecom - Breezecom was selected because of it's multi-point ability and 802.11 compliance. Breezecom operates in the 2.4 Ghz frequency range and is a frequency hopper. This unlicensed frequency hopper is excellent at avoiding frequency collisions and load balancing in multi-point installations. Security is achieved by Breezecom by using both DES 3 a frequency hopping ID. This a 3 Mbps unit offering actual throughput of 2.34 Mbps. The cost of this unit makes it an extremely fast and cheap alternative to T1 access. Coverage of this unit is typically 2-4 miles in a 30 degree arc. Software developed by ALLCONET allows 24 hour signal strength and traffic monitoring. Antenna alignment problems are often discovered and corrected before network performance is affected.
Speedlan - Speedlan 2 was selected because of it's price vs. distance factor and multi-point ability. Speedlan operates in the 900 Mhz or 2.4 Ghz frequency range and is a direct sequencer. This unlicensed sequencer is excellent at avoiding frequency collisions. Multi-point installations are switch using a 42,000 MAC address table. Security is achieved by using both DES 3 a unit IDs. This a 2 Mbps unit offering actual throughput of 1.78 Mbps. Coverage of this unit is typically 4-9 miles in a 25 degree arc. Software developed by ALLCONET allows 24 hour signal strength and traffic monitoring. Antenna alignment problems are often discovered and corrected before network performance is affected.
Speedlan - Speedlan 10 was selected because of it's distance and speed. Speedlan 10 operates in the 2.4 Ghz frequency range and is a direct sequencer. This unlicensed sequencer is an excellent choice for speed and security. Security is achieved by using both DES 3 a unit IDs. This a 10 Mbps unit offering actual throughput of 6.78 Mbps. Coverage of this unit is typically 9-20 miles in a 5 degree arc. This is a point to point unit and is only used in ALLCONET for backbone links.
Wavespan - Wavespan was selected because of it's distance, speed and frequency. Wavespan operates in the 5.8 Ghz frequency range, is a direct sequencer, and makes an excellent alternative in a 2.4 Ghz rich environment. This unlicensed sequencer is excellent for speed and security. Security is achieved by unit IDs and extremely directional antennas . This a 10 Mbps unit offering actual throughput of 8.78 Mbps. Coverage of this unit is typically 7-9 miles in a 1.5 degree arc. This is a point to point unit and is only used in ALLCONET for backbone links.
Moon Macrosystems. Sun's biggest competitor.
Here's some more information on large-scale wireless networks that companies like Sprint and WorldCom are considering.
Also, here's a list of other areas where wireless broadband ventures are being explored.
Frederick area is also covered wirelessly.
Check out Frederick Wireless:
http://www.frederickwireless.com/
Just thought i would add my input. I have been to allconet. I was a co-owner of a wireless isp in pa. DDG Wireless and we got to go down and spend a day with the guy who designed and maintains the system, Jeffry Blank. He was very nice and showed around the whole town, showed up all the network stuff.
Basically this all started because in maryland libraries can recieve a free T-1 i think it is. Basically Jeff started by hooking up some of the schools and stuff. Only charges for equipment, and like 10 bucks a year for maintenence..
Anyway. its a great system..Check out Allconet monitoring. they do not use custom software to monitor the network. They use Netsaint. Although Jeff is an avid contributor to the plugins for that. I use his check_breeze.pl and some others that he wrote.
All in all. if you get a chance go by and take a look. Its beautiful country and they Jeff is doing some amazing things with wireless.
Just goes to show what can be accomplished by not being a totaly money grubber.. heh.. some things that are cheap are good.
thanks