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Wireless Wales
phich65 writes "People could soon be sending e-mail from the hillsides, roadsides and rooftops of the south Wales valleys with the expansion of Europe's densest wireless internet network.
See this BBC story for details."
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Is that why? Is this the start of World Domination, spreading like contagion from Wales to the rest of the world?
Infuriate left and right
They went up a hill, and came down a WiFi tower.
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
Call me back when the US telecom companies manage to expand their cellular/PCS service to my area. Pathetic that we can't even have universal wireless telephone service here while the UK is putting wireless Internet into its own rural areas. I wonder how many years its been since every square inch of Europe got cellular service coverage...
== Paul Rickard, Editor of The Microsoft Boycott Campaign ====
How are they going to handle the sudden influx of users when this opens fully? I'm afraid my command of how wireless operates is a bit shakey.. but isn't a general rule of thumb more users = less available bandwidth/stability?
...when it comes to anything other than dialup access? Is it strictly a lack of competition or is there more to it? The best broadband I can get at my home is spotty cable access for $55.00 a month, so I'm almost to the point of looking at Sat. service for my internet access..it's either that or moving, and hate U-Haul.
I can't even get DSL out here in the boonies but the Orcas are all runnin 802.11 on the World Whale Web.
Wales will be the proud location of the first portable web-server on a sheep. You could even design a sheep cam and check were your flock is heading or which bastard is shagging your herd!
cool!
It's interesting that the previous translation used the word "rhydd" (used above in the imperative form "rhyddha") for "free", since it means "free as in speech", as opposed to "for no cost" ("am ddim" - lit, "for nothing"). Yet another language that makes the distinction; pity there isn't a simple way around the ambiguity that exists in English.
It's interesting that the previous translation used the word "rhydd" (used above in the imperative form "rhyddha") for "free", since it means "free as in speech", as opposed to "for no cost" ("am ddim" - lit, "for nothing").
Oh, I used the GNU/Welsh translator! I hope that clears things up.
The problem they have in Wales (and indeed, most of the UK outside the 'big' cities) is that the major Telecoms provider, British Telecom, who basically own all the local telephone exchanges, will not upgrade them for broadband until there is a certain "target level of demand" (i.e. until it will pay them hansomely to do so).
Of course, the rub is, for rural exchanges (like where *I* live) they won't tell you what the target is.....
Therefore, they can alter the 'majic' target at will, so that rural communities will almost certainly never get wired-broadband, hence the move to wireless networks - not only in Wales, but elsewhere in the UK, as it is seen as the only economic way to get better than a POTS dial-up (and don't even ask me about Satellite access in rural UK - uk£1,200 setup and uk£99/month? No thanks!!!)
-- Seamus
Then you add in Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and all the Channel Islands, and you've got the United Kingdom.
Please don't mention Sealand or Rockall, they're just a pain in the arse.
Well what do you expect? The CIA couldn't find their own arses with a labelled diagram. Stupid Americans.
Nope, sorry. The legal system is completely seperate. It just happens that many laws are parallel to English law, and the UK parliament has a certain amount of say in Scottish law.
Exactly, and even if they did have the same legal system, would that make them any less different countries? England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are part of the UK, but definitely separate countries.
Actually, as the full title is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are part of Great Britain, not just the UK. You're also missing a few, such as Gibraltar and Bermuda.
</pedandry>
If they proceed Caerphilly they could lead the world, unless someone Welshes on the deal. Can you install a new Cardiff your PC doesn't have the Newport you need for the service? When you speak Welsh over VOIP is it clear, or just Mumbles?
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
My understanding from the people who have actually tried it is that the attenuation to the signal is pretty minor- it's about the same as you get with satellite TV in fact- the frequency is pretty close anyway (as far as that goes.) Even in torrential downpours you still get connectivity, maybe some reduction in rate.
-WolfWithoutAClause
"Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"Eh? 802.11b close in frequency to satellite TV? Not in Wales it isn't. The satellite (DBS) channels used are in the Ku band (10-18Ghz) while 802.11b is on 2.4 GHz ISM band. Not even close, really.
A pedant speaks! I think.
Yeah, and there's people that will argue that 2.450000 Ghz is a completely different frequency to 2.450001 Ghz. Well, it's different... completely different? It has similar transmission properties. But that's not the point, the frequency isn't that different from its absorption characteristics. We're talking about comparing absorption; the absorption from rain isn't that bad for WiFi; and if anything the absorption is worse at 10-18 ghz than 2.45 ghz.
-WolfWithoutAClause
"Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"AllTel is rolling this out starting in November. Tampa, FL will be their first market. Target date for turn on is Nov. 1.
They don't want to screw with things, just an IP address via 3G1X. I believe it will be 64-128 Kbps, but would have to double-check.
They eventually plan to move it to all their coverage areas.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
Exactly.
-WolfWithoutAClause
"Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"Y Ddraig Goch ddyry gychwyn
When I first read the title I thought it said Wireless Whales. I thought all whales were wireless. I've never seen one swimming around the ocean while tethered to the nearest continent with fiber optic cable...
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See thats why I also included the UN, becuase I knew some Euro would say something along these lines (ie, "stupid americans") ... what about your beloved infallible UN? The UN lists other areas such as American Samoa, Macao, and the Gaza strip. Why no Scotland?
The UN lists other areas such as American Samoa, Macao, and the Gaza strip. Why no Scotland? I really am curious what the difference is?
That's not really true. A province is just an administrative demarkation, for purposes of delegating the buerocracy. A country is a sovereign, or semi-sovereign state. If Scotland and Wales have sovereign rights (i.e. they have rights which Parliament in London can't override), then they are for all intents and purposes countries, albeit countries which have banded together to form a greater whole (which is also a country) for their own common good. I don't personally know the details of the UK's situation, though, so I may be wrong. I can guarantee, though, that our states aren't provinces, and it sounds like the UK's are pretty similar.
"If English was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for everyone else."
The south wales one was done by people getting off their backsides and doing stuff. I'm sure the same can be done in the North.
And which website was that from, then? Try something like the United Nations, or the CIA World factbook.. The name comes from the Act Of Union in 1801, when it was titled the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland". After partition, the name was changed to reflect the change to "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".
Being part of the British Isles is irrelevant, as Eire is also part of the British Isles and no longer forms any part of Great Britain or the UK. The other dependancies that you mention are part of Great Britain (the names - British Indian Ocean Territory, etc) often give a suble clue to this. You seem to be mixing geographical (British Isles) with political (Great Britain). The latter includes all of the dependent territories that you mentioned.
For instance Bermuda.
"Bermuda is one of the fourteen (14) Overseas Territories of Britain." It's part of Britain, not just the UK.
I know being part of the British Isles is not the same as being part of the UK(...), that's why I wrote what I did.
The other dependencies are NOT part of Great Britain or Northern Ireland, they are dependent territories. Look it up. The word "of" in the sentence you quoted means "which are associated with", not "which are part of".