Larry, there are at least half a dozen WISPs serving the LA area. They're probably in such demand already (with that population base) that they don't dare advertise! This is the case with many WISPs. Most are self-financed and simply don't have the capital that's required for meteoric growth.
802.11b and 802.11g were not originally intended for outdoor use, but they work surprisingly well there. Early on, there were several academic papers published which explored how to tweak the technology to work better outdoors. The modulation schemes are, in fact, the same ones that are used in proprietary equipment -- there's nothing to change about them to make them work outdoors. It's just a matter of tuning the MAC layer to account for the "hidden node" problem (many transmitters that might not be able to hear one another). And there have been solutions available for that problem since 1992, when Karlnet (developed at Ohio State University and then taken private) came out.
The third WISP that's doing business up there would have to be either VCN or TribCSP. TribCSP, like AllureTech, is local.
By the way, if Casper, a town of about 50,000 souls, has 3 WISPs, it's easy to comprehend how widespread they are in the rest of the country.
As for "slashvertizing:" Yes, I think it's odd that anyone would accuse me of that. True, I'm a WISP, but I eat my own dog food (that is, I use my own service). And because I know it from the inside out and have been doing it forever (as far as I know, I was the first WISP), I know that it's really something that I could recommend to everyone. Getting folks broadband when they couldn't otherwise get it is my passion and my mission.
Actually, it is you who seem to be on some sort of crusade. I'm 100% honest, intellectually and otherwise, about my practices and beliefs, and they are not what you say.
A few people have commented here that their location is yellow on the map but they do not know how to find the WISP that's covering the area. The compiler of the map has intentionally not mapped out WISPs' coverage areas one by one, to prevent the cable and telephone companies from using the data to engage in targeted anticompetitive practices (e.g. lower charges where the WISPs serve but not elsewhere). However, there are two WISP directories that might help you find who serves your area (and there may be several). Try http://www.wispdirectory.com and .
Towers are handy things. If I were you, I'd put one up so that I had a choice of services. They are not expensive, especially when they're erected beside a house (which makes the job a bit easier).
WISPs have survived despite the predatory practices of the cable and telephone companies by innovating. I've been doing it for more than 16 years now (my WISP was, as far as I know, the world's first and is now the oldest). As in any other local business, the good ones prosper and the bad ones fail.
If the landlord is paying for the service, then you only have a fixed amount of bandwidth. The "circuit breaker" is upstream of all of you, and it'll trip if you go beyond a certain amount. Very often, a provider who serves an apartment building can let you buy bandwidth that's separate from the "pool" that the landlord is paying for. This would likely be the best solution in your case.
A relay need not be expensive. Get the WISP to install on the tower, then look on eBay for a pair of radios for a point-to-point link. Connect one of your radios "back to back" with the one supplied by the WISP. Tranzeo is one of most cost-effective and will do fine. Just make sure you are on a different frequency band from the one that the WISP is using.
Our WISP often gets customers who are tired of DSL. As we finish installing the antenna on their roofs, they say, "Thank you! We're calling the telephone company now to cut off our land line."
One of the things that WISPs do is enable people to "cut the cord."
If you're 15 minutes away from a big city, the WISPs there can easily expand into your area. Or you can take the initiative and become a WISP yourself. All you need is a wireless link into the city and a good place to host an access point. One of the benefits of doing this, of course, is that you'll get your own Internet for free.;-)
Thank you for your, er, kind words. The purpose of posting the link to Slashdot isn't advertising; it's to raise awareness. Most people don't realize that they have alternatives to the cable companies and telephone companies.
As for coverage: WISPs cover more of the area of the US than cable modem and DSL combined; we also serve more of the population. And we're growing as fast as we can to cover more. But most WISPs are self-financed and not public companies, so folks have to know about us and patronize us before we can build out.
No one is "astroturfing." WISPs have gone unnoticed for far too long on the national scene, and it's time to make them known as a viable alternative to the big cable and telephone companies.
WISPs are the real grass roots; mine is locally run, locally operated, and not a franchise or chain.
Think of us like the Whos in "Horton Hears a Who" -- we're shouting, "We are here!"
There's no yellow on the map in SC yet, but there are certainly WISPs in SC. I've met two of them. The map is still a work in progress; it's only about one third done yet.
"The only state with no WISP coverage?" There is none. The map only shows about 1/3 of all WISPs. I've been to South Carolina -- the one state on the map that currently has no yellow blobs -- and walked into the office of a WISP on Hilton Head island. They were serving residences, businesses, and at least one coffeehouse.... I guess they haven't reported their coverage yet. Again, two thirds of the WISPs out there are still not on the map!
WISPs use a variety of radio technologies. Some are based on 802.11 standards (but not used the same way you use them within your house). Some are based on 802.16 (WiMAX). Some are unique to the manufacturer of the equipment (e.g. Motorola's "Canopy" system). Most do not use cellular technologies like 3G or 4G or LTE, but it's possible. Some mix and match, using whichever equipment works best in the area. The same goes for radio frequencies; nearly all WISPs use the unlicensed bands, but they'll use different frequencies in different situations.
If you have wide open Wi-Fi, it doesn't make a difference if your bandwidth is provided by a WISP, DSL, or cable. It's going to be overloaded because too many people will try to use it or people will try to overuse it and exhaust the bandwidth. The downloaders will have a field day. I would not blame the WISP for the problems you're seeing. It would be like blaming the power company when you plug too many appliances into one circuit and blow a circuit breaker in your home.
Actually, WISPs cover more homes throughout the United States than DSL and cable combined. My WISP specializes in covering rural users who are 10 to 20 miles farther out than these services reach. And yet, we also get many customers in the city who have both of the other options; they just don't want to deal with the phone or cable company. This is proof that our service is competitive; if it weren't, these users could switch in a heartbeat. But they love us.
No, WISPs don't cover every nook and cranny of the United States -- yet. But we're the only economically feasible way of reaching many of them, and we're growing to reach them. If the government abandons policies that favor the big guys and present obstacles to us, we'll get there quicker. For example, a little spectrum that wasn't overcrowded by consumer devices would be nice.... See the article for a proposal on this.
Slashdot Mirror
Larry, there are at least half a dozen WISPs serving the LA area. They're probably in such demand already (with that population base) that they don't dare advertise! This is the case with many WISPs. Most are self-financed and simply don't have the capital that's required for meteoric growth.
802.11b and 802.11g were not originally intended for outdoor use, but they work surprisingly well there. Early on, there were several academic papers published which explored how to tweak the technology to work better outdoors. The modulation schemes are, in fact, the same ones that are used in proprietary equipment -- there's nothing to change about them to make them work outdoors. It's just a matter of tuning the MAC layer to account for the "hidden node" problem (many transmitters that might not be able to hear one another). And there have been solutions available for that problem since 1992, when Karlnet (developed at Ohio State University and then taken private) came out.
The third WISP that's doing business up there would have to be either VCN or TribCSP. TribCSP, like AllureTech, is local. By the way, if Casper, a town of about 50,000 souls, has 3 WISPs, it's easy to comprehend how widespread they are in the rest of the country. As for "slashvertizing:" Yes, I think it's odd that anyone would accuse me of that. True, I'm a WISP, but I eat my own dog food (that is, I use my own service). And because I know it from the inside out and have been doing it forever (as far as I know, I was the first WISP), I know that it's really something that I could recommend to everyone. Getting folks broadband when they couldn't otherwise get it is my passion and my mission.
Actually, it is you who seem to be on some sort of crusade. I'm 100% honest, intellectually and otherwise, about my practices and beliefs, and they are not what you say.
It seems to me that the poster above is the one who is showing a propensity for vitriol.
Oops; not sure what happened to that second link. It is http://www.part-15.org/maps/WISPSearch.asp.
A few people have commented here that their location is yellow on the map but they do not know how to find the WISP that's covering the area. The compiler of the map has intentionally not mapped out WISPs' coverage areas one by one, to prevent the cable and telephone companies from using the data to engage in targeted anticompetitive practices (e.g. lower charges where the WISPs serve but not elsewhere). However, there are two WISP directories that might help you find who serves your area (and there may be several). Try http://www.wispdirectory.com and .
Nope, the "money grubbing, dishonest scum" are the big monopolies. We're the good guys.
Your WISP used to be an American company. It sold out to a Japanese one several years ago, as I recall.
Towers are handy things. If I were you, I'd put one up so that I had a choice of services. They are not expensive, especially when they're erected beside a house (which makes the job a bit easier).
WISPs have survived despite the predatory practices of the cable and telephone companies by innovating. I've been doing it for more than 16 years now (my WISP was, as far as I know, the world's first and is now the oldest). As in any other local business, the good ones prosper and the bad ones fail.
If the landlord is paying for the service, then you only have a fixed amount of bandwidth. The "circuit breaker" is upstream of all of you, and it'll trip if you go beyond a certain amount. Very often, a provider who serves an apartment building can let you buy bandwidth that's separate from the "pool" that the landlord is paying for. This would likely be the best solution in your case.
A relay need not be expensive. Get the WISP to install on the tower, then look on eBay for a pair of radios for a point-to-point link. Connect one of your radios "back to back" with the one supplied by the WISP. Tranzeo is one of most cost-effective and will do fine. Just make sure you are on a different frequency band from the one that the WISP is using.
One of the things that WISPs do is enable people to "cut the cord."
The blog where the article is posted isn't hosted by a WISP.
If you're 15 minutes away from a big city, the WISPs there can easily expand into your area. Or you can take the initiative and become a WISP yourself. All you need is a wireless link into the city and a good place to host an access point. One of the benefits of doing this, of course, is that you'll get your own Internet for free. ;-)
There's no one price for WISP service. Some are below DSL; some are above but give you more.
As for coverage: WISPs cover more of the area of the US than cable modem and DSL combined; we also serve more of the population. And we're growing as fast as we can to cover more. But most WISPs are self-financed and not public companies, so folks have to know about us and patronize us before we can build out.
No one is "astroturfing." WISPs have gone unnoticed for far too long on the national scene, and it's time to make them known as a viable alternative to the big cable and telephone companies. WISPs are the real grass roots; mine is locally run, locally operated, and not a franchise or chain. Think of us like the Whos in "Horton Hears a Who" -- we're shouting, "We are here!"
There's no yellow on the map in SC yet, but there are certainly WISPs in SC. I've met two of them. The map is still a work in progress; it's only about one third done yet.
"The only state with no WISP coverage?" There is none. The map only shows about 1/3 of all WISPs. I've been to South Carolina -- the one state on the map that currently has no yellow blobs -- and walked into the office of a WISP on Hilton Head island. They were serving residences, businesses, and at least one coffeehouse.... I guess they haven't reported their coverage yet. Again, two thirds of the WISPs out there are still not on the map!
WISPs use a variety of radio technologies. Some are based on 802.11 standards (but not used the same way you use them within your house). Some are based on 802.16 (WiMAX). Some are unique to the manufacturer of the equipment (e.g. Motorola's "Canopy" system). Most do not use cellular technologies like 3G or 4G or LTE, but it's possible. Some mix and match, using whichever equipment works best in the area. The same goes for radio frequencies; nearly all WISPs use the unlicensed bands, but they'll use different frequencies in different situations.
If you have wide open Wi-Fi, it doesn't make a difference if your bandwidth is provided by a WISP, DSL, or cable. It's going to be overloaded because too many people will try to use it or people will try to overuse it and exhaust the bandwidth. The downloaders will have a field day. I would not blame the WISP for the problems you're seeing. It would be like blaming the power company when you plug too many appliances into one circuit and blow a circuit breaker in your home.
The Web site is a hosted blog. It doesn't belong to a WISP.
Actually, WISPs cover more homes throughout the United States than DSL and cable combined. My WISP specializes in covering rural users who are 10 to 20 miles farther out than these services reach. And yet, we also get many customers in the city who have both of the other options; they just don't want to deal with the phone or cable company. This is proof that our service is competitive; if it weren't, these users could switch in a heartbeat. But they love us. No, WISPs don't cover every nook and cranny of the United States -- yet. But we're the only economically feasible way of reaching many of them, and we're growing to reach them. If the government abandons policies that favor the big guys and present obstacles to us, we'll get there quicker. For example, a little spectrum that wasn't overcrowded by consumer devices would be nice.... See the article for a proposal on this.