More DIY DSL. Bless those subloops!

Dangger

From CNN

Carl Oppedahl moved from Manhattan to Ruby Ranch, Colo., in 1997 for the typical reasons that city folk light out for the country: spectacular views, proximity to world-class ski resorts, miles of open terrain. Tucked into the mountains west of Denver, this small community is home (or at least second home) to some of Colorado's most well-to-do residents, with sprawling, luxurious estates. Posh though it may be, the one amenity that Ruby Ranch lacked was a decent Internet connection. And that's precisely what wound up turning the normally affable Oppedahl, a 46-year-old patent attorney, into the local phone company's worst nightmare.

With only 40 homes here and no sizable city within an hour's drive, Qwest (Q) and AT&T (T) Broadband, the two telecoms operating in Ruby Ranch, had for years balked at fronting the steep costs of delivering broadband to such a remote locale. In fact, thanks to poorly configured phone lines, Ruby Ranch until recently was saddled with one of the slowest dial-up connections in the country.


Not anymore. Inside a neighborhood horse barn hangs a 12-inch-wide metal box that's securing a brighter technological future for the locals. Known as a DSLAM, it's the hub of a new broadband service that began in May. The box isn't owned by Qwest, AT&T, or any other big telecom. Oppedahl and about a dozen of his neighbors bought it last year for approximately $5,000. Then they scooped up cable modems, routers, and other equipment (usually for pennies on the dollar on eBay (EBAY)) and spent the past 10 months setting up the first subscriber-owned DSL co-op in America. While it all might seem unremarkable to outsiders -- it serves 12 homes at average DSL data speeds -- it does offer a compelling script for rural towns that don't want to wait until the next ice age to join the 21st century.


None of it would have transpired without Oppedahl's do-it-yourself guile. Bored with Qwest's standard response to the town's frequent pleas for broadband access -- maybe someday, definitely not soon -- Oppedahl began hatching a plan of his own. First, using microwave antennas, he figured out how to connect the high-speed Internet pipeline at his office (3 miles away in the town of Dillon) to his home, and then to the DSLAM in the barn, which itself was wired to Qwest's "connect box," the electronic junction of the town's phone lines. Then, last spring, he and several neighbors organized a nonprofit co-op to run the service.

Story continued here

Urban Weigl

That thought crossed my mind a few months back... I bet EirCon wouldn't even notice if you were using these "subloops".

Edit: I think I should point out that this would most likely be illegal, even though no damage would be caused.

aidan_dunne

Originally posted by Dangger
In fact, thanks to poorly configured phone lines, Ruby Ranch until recently was saddled with one of the slowest dial-up connections in the country.

I bet they were still a damn sight better than what we have here, though.

Originally posted by Dangger
While it all might seem unremarkable to outsiders -- it serves 12 homes at average DSL data speeds --

It might seem unremarkable to outsiders in the US but we'd kill for that kind of thing.

Originally posted by Dangger
-- it does offer a compelling script for rural towns that don't want to wait until the next ice age to join the 21st century.

We're still firmly stuck in the 20th century and that's just the cities, never mind our rural towns and villages where, it seems, the next ice age will be upon us before those areas get ADSL.

God, we really are completely and totally backward, aren't we.

saik

thing is , these lads could tap into a big broadband yolk in yer mans work, any chance we can get a microwave signal across the channel to england?