[Rooftops] NxtGen mesh to support an end run around ILECs?

[Brough Turner]

Thanks Jack,
Sorry I've been mostly offline during the holidays - back now.

The reason I'm now interested in mesh (versus a few years ago) is I 
believe we're on the verge of being able to make a dense mesh of links, 
each with >100 Mbps capacity.  Such a mesh could provide more than just 
a "secondary" connection (although I concede I don't know what sorts of 
SLAs are plausible).

In any event, I'd be very interested in talking (and will contact you 
off-list).

Thanks,
Brough


On 12/23/09 2:52 PM, Jack Boyle wrote:
> I am interested in this discussion.  My company provides IT support to 
> downtown businesses and we have access to many buildings. Some of my 
> clients might be interested in a secondardy Internet connection in 
> case primary connection fails.  Not sure how many users a mesh network 
> would support but it could be enough for a few users during an emergency.
> best,
> jack
>
> On Wed, Dec 23, 2009 at 2:27 PM, Brough Turner <rbt at alum.mit.edu 
> <mailto:rbt at alum.mit.edu>> wrote:
>
>     If there is anyone left on this list who is still interested in
>     Internet
>     connectivity or wireless mesh networks, I'm an engineer/ entrepreneur
>     investigating the feasibility of doing a wireless end run around the
>     duopoly here in the US.  So far this is an investigation only -
>     I'm not
>     to the point of a business plan, but I'm getting rather optimistic.
>
>     I'm looking for useful people to bounce ideas off.  I'm also
>     running an
>     event during IAP: http://student.mit.edu/searchiap/iap-a194.html
>
>     My theses:
>
>     There is a 20x cost difference between Internet connectivity at a
>     competitive IXP like One Summer Street in Boston and buildings
>     even one
>     block away.  This creates enough of a gap to support a services
>     business
>     based on a freemium business model and BYOC (bring your own capital,
>     i.e. subscribers purchase mesh nodes).
>
>     There's the potential for a 100x increment in mesh performance, at
>     least
>     in dense urban areas, because:
>       While 5 GHz is absorbed by masonry, there is significant difference
>     in propagation through air or glass btwn 5 GHz, 2.4 GHz or 700 MHz.
>       MIMO makes 5 GHz more valuable than lower frequencies, at least in
>     dense urban areas where MIMO is effective.
>       There's vastly more spectrum available at 5 GHz (11 - 40 MHz
>     channels
>     versus 3 - 20 MHz channels at 2.4 GHz).
>       DSP controlled beamforming significantly improves MIMO performance
>       DSP controlled beamforming achieves the performance and SDMA
>     advantages of highly directional antennas without requiring
>     professional
>     or enthusiast installers.
>       802.11n today and 802.11ac in the future are leading silicon vendors
>     to incorporate ever higher order MIMO and software controlled
>     beamforming.
>
>     If there is anyone here on this list who's interested in talking, my
>     contact info is below.  (You're also welcome to attend the January
>     27th
>     IAP event).
>
>     Thanks,
>     Brough
>
>     Brough Turner
>     Ashtonbrooke.com
>     Mobile: +1 617 285-0433  Skype: brough
>     Also: broughturner at gmail.com <mailto:broughturner at gmail.com>
>     Web: http://www.broughturner.com/
>     Blog: http://blogs.broughturner.com/
>
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>
> -- 
>
> Jack Boyle
> (617) 894-1282
> CleverMinds, Inc.  |  77 Franklin St, Suite 300 Boston, MA 02110
> Help Desk Hotline (617) 848-8978
> www.cleverminds.net <http://www.cleverminds.net>   |  Small Business 
> Technology Experts

-- 
Thanks,
Brough

Brough Turner
Ashtonbrooke.com
Mobile: +1 617 285-0433  Skype: brough
Also:broughturner at gmail.com
Web:http://www.broughturner.com/
Blog:http://blogs.broughturner.com/