[GRLUG] Mesh networking, localnet and Internet infrastructure

[Michael Mol]

On Mon, May 18, 2009 at 12:48 PM, Adam Tauno WIlliams
<awilliam at whitemice.org> wrote:
> On Mon, 2009-05-18 at 12:30 -0400, Bob Kline wrote:
>> I wonder whether this is another reason
>> Comcast got a yen for implementing
>> monthly byte quotes.  A router ( I'm
>> assuming this is a router? ) with that kind
>> of range could provide free Internet access
>> to a big piece of a neighborhood if no
>> encryption is used.
>
> Sharing your for-consumer-use Internet connection beyond your
> "household" is almost certainly a violation of your EULA (contract).
>
>> Can using boosters be considered
>> redistributing a service?
>
> I don't think so;  letting people other than those in your "household"
> would be redistribution.  Rules are very much like those of fair-use:  I
> can record on VCR/DVR a TV show to watch later,  I *cannot* give that
> recording to my buddy to watch at his house.

I wonder what their terms on their "business class" services are.
Likewise, I wonder how much it costs to get T1 service without DSL or
the T1 SLA; If you've got a mesh routing around failure, you don't
exactly need to pay to call a tech out in the middle of the night to
fix a failure. (Which brings to mind another potential use for this
technology, actually...Enabling redundancy to reduce the costs
inherent in preventing individualized failure.)

>
>> But then, boosting
>> only affects the outgoing signal.  From how
>> far can a typical laptop send info upstream?
>
> Certainly less distance than the range of the AP.  Just like the range
> of the AP it depends allot on environmentals.  While you may get 300
> yards out of an AP in a neighborhood of level terrain, minimal
> vegetation, wood frame houses, clear skies, and minimal EMF interference
> the usable range in most circumstances (or even weather) is dramatically
> less than that.

I wouldn't call this a typical AP.  I have two of them, and I took one
of them with me to an anime con in Atlanta last September so that I
could use my hotel room's Internet connection without being stuck at
the tiny little table.  It worked splendidly for access from my bed,
and then I took my laptop for a walk.

I was shocked that I could still access my room's Internet connection
just fine from the lobby six floors down and through as many layers of
concrete.

>
>> Well, one could still provide a neighborhood
>> radio streaming service.....
>
> Maybe, but I doubt it.  You could certainly provide IP (or at least
> IPv6) connectivity but the latency of skipping across a half dozen or so
> APs would stack up pretty fast.  Much like a satellite connection it
> wouldn't be very pleasant for any kind of interactive use.
>
> But it is a very interesting idea.

-- 
:wq