An ISP of their own (was RE: [rescue] Being jobless)

[N.Miller]

On Tuesday, July 29, 2003, at 09:28 AM, Charles Shannon Hendrix wrote:
>> Suggestion: check how many houses you can see from the top of your
>> house.  Consider offering high-speed wireless for those folks.  Buy a
>> DSL and a cable modem connection for yourself, then NAT everybody and
>> charge less.
>
> That's an interesting idea.
>
> Some of us have thought about doing that locally.

There are a number of groups who have started what
amounts to broadband coops.  Not all of them are as
far out in the "sticks" as one might think.

A co-op in Colorado was formed because Qwest would
not upgrade their CO, so even dial-up was AFU.  They
ended up getting a microwave link, and then had to
file a complaint with the state telecom regulatory
commission to force Qwest to lease local loop lines
to them.  <http://www.rric.net/>

I saw another, iirc in AK, but they were using
point-to-point home-made antennas for connectivity.  I
also remember seeing a "fabric" wireless network product
that I think was by Nokia, but I can't find the reference
at the moment.  The latter would probably be more useful
in a neighborhood co-op situation.

(BTW, what are rescuers using to manage their bookmarks
across multiple computers?  Or do you just mount the same
home directory everywhere and have done with it?)

=Nadine=