Starting an Internet Service Provider
chrishacken.com
Starting an Internet Service Provider
1–10 of 248 posts
Re: Starting an Internet Service Provider
#2Godspeed man. I wish the regulatory landscape was more open to this kind of thing all over the country. The incumbent ISPs need some competition.
Re: Starting an Internet Service Provider
#3Godspeed man. I wish the regulatory landscape was more open to this kind of thing all over the country. The incumbent ISPs need some competition.
Thank you. I obviously completely agree; we tried relentlessly to contact our local utilities to gain access to their underground conduit and was never able to get someone on the phone or even much of a response.
I eventually got to the point where I was like, "Fk it, I'll do it on my own." Now we're looking at microtrenching, which is probably an even larger endeavor, but at least we'll own the conduit.
Re: Starting an Internet Service Provider
#4Godspeed man. I wish the regulatory landscape was more open to this kind of thing all over the country. The incumbent ISPs need some competition.
Thank you. I obviously completely agree; we tried relentlessly to contact our local utilities to gain access to their underground conduit and was never able to get someone on the phone or even much of a response. I eventually got to the point where I was like, "F k it, I'll do it on my own." Now we're looking at microtrenching, which is probably an even larger endeavor, but at least we'll own the conduit.
Perhaps try reaching out to the B4RN folks to learn some of their lessons. A lot won't apply because UK vs. US but I'm sure some of their experiences might help you avoid problems! https://b4rn.org.uk
Re: Starting an Internet Service Provider
#5I've seen a possibly related issue with static electricity in a large building in PA that had 3 power feeds, after lightning we would have ethernet port problems.
I would suggest that you declare a 2am Thursday maintenance window and use a script to automatically reboot all the devices. This in combination with checking that you have a good separate ground wire connection at all antenna locations should pretty much fix it. The reboot cycles the power and should hopefully drain anything extraneous.
Re: Starting an Internet Service Provider
#6While I don't wish you ill will, I do wish to remark that you have had it remarkably easy with this.
Source: 7 ISPs. In Africa. On unreliable power, broken fibre, people stealing your spectrum, etc.
Re: Starting an Internet Service Provider
#7Godspeed man. I wish the regulatory landscape was more open to this kind of thing all over the country. The incumbent ISPs need some competition.
Thank you. I obviously completely agree; we tried relentlessly to contact our local utilities to gain access to their underground conduit and was never able to get someone on the phone or even much of a response. I eventually got to the point where I was like, "F k it, I'll do it on my own." Now we're looking at microtrenching, which is probably an even larger endeavor, but at least we'll own the conduit.
> we tried relentlessly to contact our local utilities to gain access to their underground conduit and was never able to get someone on the phone or even much of a response.
I find that really hard to believe. Go to their offices and ask for the manager.
> I eventually got to the point where I was like, "Fk it, I'll do it on my own." Now we're looking at microtrenching, which is probably an even larger endeavor, but at least we'll own the conduit.
Building your own facilities is no joke. Unless you are made out of money, you'll be far better off putting more effort into renting existing ducts.
Re: Starting an Internet Service Provider
#8I've seen a possibly related issue with static electricity in a large building in PA that had 3 power feeds, after lightning we would have ethernet port problems. I would suggest that you declare a 2am Thursday maintenance window and use a script to automatically reboot all the devices. This in combination with checking that you have a good separate ground wire connection at all antenna locations should pretty much f…
That sounds like a great idea. I've actually debated doing this before, but I wasn't sure if the service disruption was worth it considering it happens maybe once every other month and sporadically at that.
Re: Starting an Internet Service Provider
#9Thanks for this article. I have been considering the feasibility of starting a WISP here in West Texas, so it's cool to see the beggining stages from the inside perspective.
I whish I knew more about the laws on common access to equipment/lines. For example, the only cable provider locally is Suddenlink, AT&T Uverse is still on copper phone lines, and there is only one local ISP bringing fiber to residential customers. The local ISP got a huge bunch of grants for the fiber rollout (of course someone embezzled a bunch of it (few mil) and they had to get bought out to get the new set of grants) but all I want to know is: if the government payed for the fiber rollout, shouldn't I be able to use it as well for a nominal fee of some sort?
What about ownership and fees on the last mile? How does all that work? I just wish there was a clear and simple place to find this stuff out. It feels like the ISP game is really geared towards big companies expanding or buying existing ISP's, and is not very encouraging of small local competition.
Of course, that's where WISPs come in, because it is so much simpler to not have to deal with all the trenching and agreements, and the equipment is getting better and better and cheaper and cheaper. (loving ubiquity airfiber products for example).
Anyway, more power to you, I hope things work out. I would like to see more posts about the business/political/technical struggles you run into.
Re: Starting an Internet Service Provider
#10This was a super interesting read. The one thing I never fail to get over though is how expensive internet is in the states. In the UK you can get 200/20 for about £58 p/m including TV & Phone. I couldn't imagine paying nearly $100 p/m for 100mbps.