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."

Comments

Cat5 all the way baby.

[psergiu]

5 & 8 port switches are cheap. Shielded cat5 is cheap. Unshielded cat5 (for runs 70m inside buildings) is even cheaper. For jumps between buildings use some steel wire (the kind used for drying clothes is the best), secure-it and then wrap the cat5 around it. Ensure that the switches won't be rained on and that the power can't be disconnected accidentaly. If you have jumps between buildings larger than 10m use ProtectNet (or other eclators). If you want redundancy use switches that support spanning tree and create network loops. Is 100baseT, is cheap and it works.
See http://www.era.ro/ for an example.
There are almost 100 networks like this here in Bucharest.