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Hybrid Community Networks?
CaryMenage asks: "I live in Philadelphia where there is a chock full of row houses and MDU (Multiple Dwelling Units) buildings. I was wondering if other Slashdot readers have been involved with community networks and what methods they have used. I have been looking at several different ways to distribute a T1 circuit to multiple end users; WiFi, Powerline, HomePNA. Due to the physical and legal complexities of older buildings and crossing public streets, I feel that some type of hybrid mixture of different topologies would work well in many situations. Has anyone implemented any of this on a large scale installation?"
"I currently let my neighbor access the Internet through a powerline device that works well through the power meters. It seems to me that in theory, one could repeat the Ethernet with a cheap switch and send it to the next neighbor with another pair of powerline devices. Then when you have to cross a public street one could use a pair of Wireless Access Points in bridge mode. I also found a "leaky coax" product called RADIAX that I was wondering if anyone has applied this to 802.11. Seems to me you could use this coax and amplifiers to expand wireless coverage within buildings. For apartment buildings with somewhat organized main phone closets I have been looking at HomePNA products like the Xterasys HSM-1402 14-port HomePNA Switch and the Xterasys VX-110B for the end users connection."
Fiber optic networking is great technology, and its not that expensive to get old fiber optic ethernet to coper ethernet media converters (typically ~$150 for 100mbps multimode, ~$200 for 100mbps singlemode). On ebay such equipment is much cheaper, especially if you go with old 10mbps 10baseFL media converters.
If laying your own cable is an option, this would give you a great upgrade path. 10mbps now, 10gbps in a few years.
The big choice is singlemode or multimode. Single mode equipment is harder to find and a little bit more expensive. The range (20-100 km for SM, 2km for MM) and theoretical information capacity (terabits per second vs gigabits) is much greater, though. I've heard that SM is harder to terminate unless you can afford a fusion splicer.
Has anyone out there inexpensively set up a community network with fiber?
-jim
Unfortunately WEP is broken and easily cracked. This guy told me how to crack WEP.
No, there is a distance limitation, but it is working at my nieghbors house through the power meters, his and mine. My understanding is that as long as you are served by the same transformer you are only limmitted by distance. My neighbor is acheiving 4.58 Mbs at last check, so that why I would repeat the ethernet wit a cheap switch and send it to the next neighbor with another pair of these devices. I would also need to mention that I live in a row home, so the length of actual power line is that of my outlet to my panel, up the main, down my neighbors main etccc, about 100 feet or less. The manufacturers statment about it working in your house only has been proven not accurate. I guess thats why there is 56bit encryption.