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Starting an Internet Service Provider

chrishacken.com

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Re: Starting an Internet Service Provider

#181

Post by slovette »

This was great to read. I started 32Waves in April of 2016 under the same premises you did here. We're now 176 customers strong and are getting into fiber as well (just lit up a 10gig local ring that runs to several tall structures). Today we're 95% wireless, but we've had amazing success with it. No issues at all with stability and reliability, we spent a metric shit ton of time engineering everything.

Our city is looking at doing a community fiber build, where the city owns the strands and the use is open access. I think it's the future and we're pushing for it as a company as well.

I've started another company recently called OpenOptic where we are working on SDN solutions that automate operations with virtualization and user control portals.

It's been a freakin fantastically fun first year so far.

Love to swap stories sometime.

Re: Starting an Internet Service Provider

#182

Post by metilda »

zer0t3ch wrote: post #170
chrishacken wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The majority of our customers are businesses paying >$100/m. Aside from that, I still work full-time as a Systems Engineer at USPS +$3,400/m after taxes.

> I still work full-time as a Systems Engineer I hope then that you're not the only person working at NEPA Fiber. How many employees do you have?

He probably is running it all himself, it's only a 50 customer business. Combined with a day job that allows him to take the occasional personal call, it's very doable.

If you look on the DSLReports Wireless ISP forum, most of the smaller WISPs are doing exactly this, and eventually they may bring a person on to answer the phone, and an installer, but until you get a bit over 200 subs you can do this.

Re: Starting an Internet Service Provider

#183

Post by notdonspaulding »

Keverw wrote: post #171

Wow. Starting an ISP on credit cards and $2,500 cash. Very resourceful. I guess it also helps also knowing this stuff since you worked at a datacenter. I wonder what kind of regulations there are for something like this being wireless. Sounds like it would be a bureaucratic mess to license frequencies. Really inspiring blog.

Not the OP, but doing something similar. For fixed wireless broadband in rural areas of the US, it's actually not too onerous. The FCC designates certain frequencies as licensed or unlicensed, and the hardware options for running an ISP in the unlicensed bands have increased dramatically in the last 10 years.

The process is basically:

    - The FCC designates certain rules, including power limits, for each band.

    - Hardware manufacturers build to the rules, get their gear FCC-labeled.

    - WISPs (Wireless ISPs) buy name-brand FCC-labeled gear.

    - WISPs maintain CALEA[0] capabilities (so 3-letter agencies can spy on you).

    - File form 477 with the FCC [1].
...and that's about all it takes from a regulatory standpoint. There are of course numerous other obstacles which must be overcome in the process, but red tape currently isn't the biggest one for our industry.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Assistance_for_...

[1]: https://www.fcc.gov/general/form-477-resources-filers

Re: Starting an Internet Service Provider

#184

Post by ashark »

matt_wulfeck wrote: post #179
bottled_poe wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that's old. I'm only interested in new new NEW!!

You have to admit, getting people on slack is much easier than getting them to join your irc channel.

Despite having to have Slack for work anyway, I find joining public projects' Slack channels to be too high-commitment, so I never do it. IRC? No problem. I also like that IRC somehow has both a less formal and a lower-BS feel/culture to it.

For non-tech people, yeah, it's probably easier.

Re: Starting an Internet Service Provider

#185

Post by sumedh »

mildlyclassic wrote: post #178
dboreham wrote: post #162

I feel I need to write the inverse article "Stopping an Internet Service Provider", since I just shut down mine. Although this stuff can be great fun, you have to stop and ask yourself why the market is "under served" and why there isn't already some dude supplying these customers, driving around the city in his Lexus and waxing his new boat on the weekends. The unfortunate truth is that there just isn't that great a…

>A small new player can't compete in either of those markets. We're Wifidabba.com and we're in the current batch of YC. We provide low-cost internet in India at tea-stalls and bakeries. Consumers buy tokens and get access to wifi. In effect, we take a broadband connection and slice it into tiny pieces and sell that as wifi. I guess in some ways we're an ISP, the government certainly thinks so, we've had to apply for…

The pricing looks super cheap. All the best.

Re: Starting an Internet Service Provider

#186

Post by bluesign »

mildlyclassic wrote: post #178
dboreham wrote: post #162

I feel I need to write the inverse article "Stopping an Internet Service Provider", since I just shut down mine. Although this stuff can be great fun, you have to stop and ask yourself why the market is "under served" and why there isn't already some dude supplying these customers, driving around the city in his Lexus and waxing his new boat on the weekends. The unfortunate truth is that there just isn't that great a…

>A small new player can't compete in either of those markets. We're Wifidabba.com and we're in the current batch of YC. We provide low-cost internet in India at tea-stalls and bakeries. Consumers buy tokens and get access to wifi. In effect, we take a broadband connection and slice it into tiny pieces and sell that as wifi. I guess in some ways we're an ISP, the government certainly thinks so, we've had to apply for…

this is mesh network, right? can you tell a bit about your technology?

Re: Starting an Internet Service Provider

#187

Post by dantiberian »

gigatexal wrote: post #58
chrishacken wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

What're your thoughts on this idea: internet access is a right and should be treated like a utility. Operators like you and others create supply and then are guaranteed a price or rate as (probably) negotiated by the consortium of suppliers like yourself and others and the local government. And then in return businesses and consumers can rely on (fiber based) internet for a reasonable cost. I personally don't care fo…

This is (roughly) how the New Zealand telecommunications market works.

Re: Starting an Internet Service Provider

#188

Post by Keverw »

notdonspaulding wrote: post #183
Keverw wrote: post #171

Wow. Starting an ISP on credit cards and $2,500 cash. Very resourceful. I guess it also helps also knowing this stuff since you worked at a datacenter. I wonder what kind of regulations there are for something like this being wireless. Sounds like it would be a bureaucratic mess to license frequencies. Really inspiring blog.

Not the OP, but doing something similar. For fixed wireless broadband in rural areas of the US, it's actually not too onerous. The FCC designates certain frequencies as licensed or unlicensed, and the hardware options for running an ISP in the unlicensed bands have increased dramatically in the last 10 years. The process is basically: - The FCC designates certain rules, including power limits, for each band. - Hardwa…

Interesting. I heard of CALEA in the past and wondered how CALEA is implemented.

>The IP-based "soft switches" typically do not contain a built-in CALEA intercept feature

Is there a specification you must follow? Like maybe you had a VOIP company with your own custom protocol or softphone, would you just code up some web interface where they have a login and then type in a number to see if any active calls, then click a "Listen" button then an audio stream starts playing. Or is there a well defined way for them to access the call, audio codec, etc has to be?

Re: Starting an Internet Service Provider

#189

Post by __strisk »

timthorn wrote: post #52
arca_vorago wrote: post #9

Thanks 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 customer…

Another presentation at UKNOF 36 entitled "Starting a Wireless ISP by accident": https://youtu.be/-hF_UccnHxk?list=PLjzK5ZtLlc91r5YZVNiebhcq0...

this is awesome. I was in a similar situation several years ago using crap like Clearwire, Hughes Net, and some mifi hacks to get internet to a dislocated house. I ended up researching and finding out about ubiquiti radios and found a way to hook up comcast to a garage by the road. the distance is about quarter of a mile from the modem location to the house. I went from having the most miserable internet experience (SATELLITE INTERNET SUCKS), to practically being in internet heaven.

Here's the kicker. Comcast was willing to drop a line to the house for around $15,000. No thanks. With two m5 ubiquiti radios and 100ft of ethernet cable, I solved the problem spending less than $300. It would have been nice to have a direct connection, but I'd rather save some money.

The radio's have been up for 5+ years now. I had a problem with one of the POE adaptors once, but other than that I think these devices are cost-effective and robust. I believe these radios can help bring about internet connectivity for a large portion of the unserved population. Easy to setup. Cheap. Robust.

Re: Starting an Internet Service Provider

#190

Post by mildlyclassic »

bluesign wrote: post #186
mildlyclassic wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>A small new player can't compete in either of those markets. We're Wifidabba.com and we're in the current batch of YC. We provide low-cost internet in India at tea-stalls and bakeries. Consumers buy tokens and get access to wifi. In effect, we take a broadband connection and slice it into tiny pieces and sell that as wifi. I guess in some ways we're an ISP, the government certainly thinks so, we've had to apply for…

this is mesh network, right? can you tell a bit about your technology?

It's a mesh built on low cost custom hardware. Each node is also super powerful with >128gb storage and some nice computation power, with a GPU to boot :) We're looking to be more than just an ISP in the long run.
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