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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.
What do you need the GPU for? The box does not appear to have a display.
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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.
What do you need the GPU for? The box does not appear to have a display.
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That's in the works.
You don't have to be a CLEC to access right of way, including ducts and poles. It's enough to be a BIAS (Broadband Interner Access Provider), which you already are.
I've been contemplating setting up a small [NW]ISP for our neighborhood (rural, wooded, private roads) but LOS issues limit my wireless options. One thought was to install a few airfibers and "demux" them with G.fast to each CPE via its service drop interconnect in the pedestal. This has the benefit of not having to trench the last 100 yards from the street to the residence. BUT I can find scant information on what a…
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The biggest problem is: where is the money going to come from? Even if you guarantee a rate of return, somebody still needs to finance the buildout. Second issue is, how will infrastructure that is installed, but not used be paid for? Take rate is rarely 100%, so who is going to pay for that part and how?
If you can guarantee a rate of return, getting money from any bank sounds easy. And if take rate is 60%, then those that take the offer have to pay 100%/60%=166% of what they would have payed with a 100% take rate. Of course that requires estimating the take rate, but that's an everyday buisiness problem.
Sadly this isn't true. Banks lend you money if you have collateral.
> And if take rate is 60%, then those that take the offer have to pay 100%/60%=166% of what they would have payed with a 100% take rate.
That only works if the customers are willing to pay 166%. The shit really hits the fan if you get the take rate wrong and your costs exceed what your customers have agreed to pay.
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You don't have to be a CLEC to access right of way, including ducts and poles. It's enough to be a BIAS (Broadband Interner Access Provider), which you already are.
Becoming a CLEC does classify you as a "utility" though, which has other benefits.
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Do your customers tolerate all that? As in, can you ignore a good chunk of it because Internet issues are more acceptable in Africa? Or did you have to prevent, detect, and/or mitigate all of it because they expect nearly-perfect Internet in your area?
By way of answering, let me recount a short story for you. It takes place during the very first time I visited Kampala (the capital of Uganda). It was about 3 years before I had started working in the ISP/telecom space in Africa. This particular trip was soccer-specific (I was working on the team that delivered one of the big trans-national African tournaments' games on television), thus the non-ISP nature of it. We…
Love to chat/commiserate more about your experiences
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…
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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.
I did a bunch of ISP builds in my younger days. It is worth while to see if you can horse trade some internet for an electrician with tower experience (or a real RF engineer) to help you. As other commenters have suggested, check your ground potential and make corrections as necessary.