Setting up a Community Broadband Scheme in South Tipperary

MajesticDonkey

Hello there,

Following on from Big Lar's thread on Wireless Community Broadband, I am massively interested in setting up a similar scheme in South Tipperary, with the "area of operations" in Skeheenarinky, between Cahir and Mitchelstown.

At the moment, there are a few fixed wireless providers in the area, but the service is generally terrible because of what appears to be contention issues. It's also terribly expensive...I pay €35/month for 2Mb down and 512Kb up + €150 installation (which does not include router - this was €100 extra and turned out to be a standard Edimax router worth €40 on Amazon).

To be honest, I'm not quite sure where to start. There is a lot of helpful information in the thread above, but it's the stage before that I need the help with. I am definitely a techie, but more so in the software dev and computer hardware departments so my knowledge in the networking side of things is fairly limited.

Ideally I'd like to have an approx cost in my head before calling a local meeting and getting a committee set up. What are the initial setup costs, and who do I need to contact to find out? The masts servicing our area can be found here. Cahir and Clogheen are "Node Reach Sites" according the the eircom NGN core fibre network which are approx 16km and 10km away respectively if that makes any difference. I'm fairly sure we have line of sight to both of these areas.

Additionally, if there's anybody in the forum from somewhere near this area (South Tipp, South Limerick, North East Cork, North Waterford etc.) that would be willing to help out, send me an aul' PM and we'll get the ball rolling

Thanks.

Nonoperational

Seems to be backhaul that's the big cost/problem. If the other wisps are crippled with backhaul issues then it may be difficult to get cheap good backhaul in the area.

MajesticDonkey

Nonoperational wrote: »

Seems to be backhaul that's the big cost/problem. If the other wisps are crippled with backhaul issues then it may be difficult to get cheap good backhaul in the area.

I'm not quite sure. It's more to do with having a "couldn't be arsed" attitude I'd say. My current connection is from Cahir, which is fibre enabled. I think my ISP is just a gangster to be honest.

yomamasflavour

Big Lars was doing it from a voluntary/community point of view. Considering the costs/investment that they still had even as a voluntary effort, it's hardly surprising that 'for profit' company's in your area are charging more or providing less.

Saying that, I hope it goes well for you.
I have a number of relations near the horse and jockey area so I'm well aware of the joke of a service that they're stuck with.

MajesticDonkey

This will also be a completely voluntary, not-for-profit scheme. Any profits will go back into it - the same as Big Lar's.

By the way, Horse & Jockey is more mid-Tipp, but it's not a million miles away
To be honest, I'd say there are hundreds of communities around the country that are putting up with pure sh!te when it comes to broadband, simply because of a lack of technical expertise.

MajesticDonkey

Can anyone answer the question of who is the first person I need to contact about a backhaul?

loyatemu

MajesticDonkey wrote: »

Can anyone answer the question of who is the first person I need to contact about a backhaul?

Try Airspeed maybe? AFAIK They provide backhaul for a number of smaller WISPs and have a fairly extensive network.