Providing Free Wifi in town

unnameduser

As part of a local group of business owners here in Nenagh are looking at providing free Wifi on the main streets in town. We are at the very early stages of investigating all the possible avenues and potential problems (which I see many)

Right now I am looking at the issue of backhaul.

There is no public fiber in town ie UPC, Magnet etc.

eNet do provide fiber but at extortionate prices (for a local non-profit group)

Can someone offer advice on best possible sources of backhaul.

I would imagine that it is against the terms & conditions of line rental with aDSL providers such as Eircom / Vodafone to share a business broadband connection free to the public? Also the bandwidth would not be sufficient.

watty

You'll need a specially engineered network of wifi points.

Yes, you need more than one DSL can do

Yes it would be against T&C, but you can get a specific contract. It can be done on DSL.


But I have yet to be convinced of the value of such systems. Wifi points in coffee shop or Hotel Lobby or rest area in an indoor Shopping Mall, but otherwise I actually am sceptical. Yes, I have been in Nenagh and know the shopping geography.

One DSL per Wifi point will work generally and you'd probably find a DSL reseller prepared to do business with you.

How will ongoing cost be funded?

unnameduser

Watty,

Thanks for the reply.

We do believe that free wifi will offer value to shoppers. I agree that there are some free wifi spots locally but some of these are locked down with security keys that you have to ask for. Quite often staff members don't know the keys. Some of the retailers don't want to share out their broadband for security reasons.

What way would you suggest to implement the Wifi points. I had been originally thinking of a mesh of Ruckus or ubiquity gear. Basically like a WISP.

As for funding. That's another headache that will have to be addressed.

watty

Performance of a mesh is rubbish. Only supports a few users or else you have Dialup to ISDN speeds.

Most WISP have each mast with it's own dedicated feed.

Xennon

If you contact Michael from wirelessconnect.eu Im sure he'll help you out. Hes from the Nenagh area.