Wireless Technologies for ISPs?

PhraudulentOne asks: "I work for a small rural ISP in Canada and we are planning to offer highspeed internet access (512k-2Mbps) for our rural customers that are too far down the line (or are unlucky enough to be in another carriers area) to receive DSL access. I am wondering how many of you have had success deploying wireless over a 3-10 mile range and what technologies worked for you. I have deployed a 2.4Ghz solution in the past by Alvarion but this time I am interested in the possibilities of 5.8Ghz/3.5Ghz/900Mhz or 2.4Ghz. I have looked at some technologies (ie. Angel) that work in the 1900Mhz spectrum as well. NLOS (non line of sight) would be great which 900Mhz works well with, but high bandwidth would also be a plus."

"I am also thinking about providing hotspot access in some of the neighbouring towns so the locals can hang out in the parks or their backyards with a laptop and get some decent bandwidth. We could use PPPoE to offer a paid service (cheap!) for anyone to roam around the town and be online outside (hopefully 100% coverage). Some of the towns here are only 2-4 square miles so we could put up a couple of towers and cover everyone using technologies like ADC's Loopstar. Basically there are a lot of Wireless companies starting up and it seems like a fierce market - I would like some recommendations on companies that have been around for awhile and that you think will still be around in a couple of years - It seems I get a lot of PR and little substance from the ones I have been dealing with thus far."

Comments

How does wireless broadband work?

[ObviousGuy]

I was wondering how you keep people from hooking into the wireless system without paying for a subscription?

Is there some device-specific authentication (based on MAC address or something)? If so, does that mean that each computer in a customer's house needs to be subscribed separately?

Or is there a receiver box (maybe with a router) located in the customer's house which is authenticated by the ISP? Wouldn't this preclude roaming?

How many wireless ISP schemes are there? How do they let customers in and non-customers out?