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Fido Launches New Broadband Wireless Access

Posted by timothy on from the pant-pant dept.

bug-eyed monster writes "Fido is launching a new wireless internet service with 'Download at speeds of up to 2.2 Mbps,' in Richmond BC and Cumberland ON. It uses a special modem that plugs into a regular network card. The technology providers' websites, Microcell and Inukshuk, inform us that the service uses Multipoint Communications Systems (radio-based) in the 2500 MHz range. The modem can be used anywhere within Richmond and 'up to 2.5km away from any network base station' (no idea if it can also run on batteries). Of course, this is all torture for me since I live next-door in Vancouver, just out of reach of the network."

9 of 209 comments (clear)

  1. When you say Fido by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think FidoNet. And then I get sad.

    1. Re:When you say Fido by Vskye · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well, I think the original thread should be
      modded up since the first thing I thought of
      when seeing this article was the "Fidonet", which
      existed way prior to the internet. Accessing the
      net back then .. when it started was normally via
      a 300 baud modem connect to a local collage VAC
      system, and then only with a terminal program,
      and that would allow you to ftp to sunsite and
      such. Off my ramp now, FidoNet was a good thing
      even though the phone bills could set you back
      hundreds of U.S. dollars a month. (trust me on this!) I've personally known of a few eastern
      hubs that would pass mail to europe and have
      bills that would be over $1k U.S. a month. (and
      people bitch about their $100 a month inet connection...!)

      --
      Life was hell, then I discovered Linux...
  2. Re:Torture by legend · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You should check out http://www.awirelessgateway.com/

    --
    If you can't figure out my address, just drop me an e-mail and I will explain.
  3. "Up to" - uh oh by Animats · · Score: 4, Insightful
    "Up to" probably means "when nobody else is using the network". How many people share spectrum with this thing? This is, really, a desktop 3G cellular modem.

    Also note that data transfer costs $10/gigabyte after the first 20GB (down) or 5GB (up) in a month.

    Personally, I think it should be considered false advertising to advertise "up to" anything. Vendors should have to provide a guaranteed minimum.

  4. Re:Ahh the pain of waiting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    No fair my ass. If what you meant by your comment is that those living in areas with a higher population density greater deserve the opportunity to participate in the trials then recognize that the point of this pilot is do the opposite.

    Case in point: Richmond is a sprawl of low-density housing comprised of [1-3] floor dwelling units and an almost perfectly flat topography. These qualities allow the first phase of the public trial to expose the benefits and shortcomings of the non-LOS system that iFido uses while not biting off a larger customer base than they can chew.

    By doing the inverse (high population density, rolling topography) these companies would have a larger-than-they-can-handle trial customer base (given that anyone within the reach of the signal can sign up) and more urban jungle + rolling hills. That is not a recipe for getting the trial off the ground; indeed it is a recipe for a difficult trial that would most possibly end in failure. Further, if they allowed a limited number of participants, then that is plain bad customer relations for those who attempt to sign up but are rejected because the quota has already been met (customers are fickle creatures)...

    Don't like it? Move! :)

  5. It will never happen by Mitchua · · Score: 2, Insightful

    There's no way they could provide coverage like this in an area with a lot of high-rises. The people on the far side of the building would have horrible reception. Imagine trying to cover an area like downtown Vancouver or Toronto?

  6. Re:Wow... by shepd · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is standard for most ISPs. At least, unlike certain others, they are being upfront about the limits. No ISP can afford a 24x7 leech @ $40 monthly.

    Other ISPs, who either don't want to kick users, or weren't upfront about their limits will find other methods to "fix" the problem users.

    --
    If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
  7. This is a bit bothersome... by AnimeFreak · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I am on Fido in Greater Vancouver -- Richmond is a part of the area, and Fido's reception is varying. I go to Richmond on a bi-weekly basis, and it gets a bit irritating that sometimes when I enter certain buildings, my reception drops considerably, sometimes to the point where it is unusable.

    Fido (Microcell) uses GSM, which most likely means that this service is GPRS-based, which works on the same waveband if I remember right. They're notorious for offering awesome packages, but pitiful reception in certain areas.

    I hope that if they're going to introduce this service that they actually improve the signal quality, because it isn't GSM that is the problem -- Rogers AT&T Wireless uses the same system, but it is the fact that there isn't enough nodes for me to connect to.

    I am a very happy Fido customer regardless, but there are times where the reception blackouts do piss me off.

  8. Re:Warning: Bandwidth limited... by jonbrewer · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Warning: Bandwidth limited... This won't satisfy most /. readers. The CAN$40 a monthly fee only covers 20 GB down and 5 GB up. Extra GBs cost CAN$10 each.

    Idiot. Alarmist too. It's a traffic limit, not a bandwidth limit. And besides, 20GB is well beyond what 90% of users (of broadband connections) use.